Daisy Dursley: Flower Sparks
by Ravenclaweruditeowl
Summary: Daisy Dursley, Dudley's daughter finds out that she is a witch. How will she manage her grandparents' wizard prejudice, her own friendship problems, plus a new evil at Hogwarts? On the side, Dudley finds himself enjoying times with the Potter and Weasley families. How can he admit it to his parents? Can Harry ever completely forgive him? Can he forgive himself? (Next gen fic)
1. Chapter 1: Headmistress's Call

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters recognizable from the Harry Potter books. They all belong to J.K. Rowling

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Chapter 1

Headmaster's Call

"You wanted to meet with me Professor?" asked Harry, sitting in front of the headmaster's desk. The familiarity of Hogwart's corridors was eerie, but comforting even though he hadn't visited the place in a year. He had come because of a letter sent by Professor Mcgonagall asking him to meet her in her office that day.

"Yes, Potter," She said, "I have some news that may interest you, and that you way want to assist in." Mcgonagall moved aside several rolls of parchment laying on her desk until she found the one she was looking for. "Is this Dursley a relation of yours?" She pushed the parchment across the desk so Harry could see.

He leaned forward. Towards the end of the D names was Daisy Dursley. Harry nodded, not completely surprised. Daisy had shown a few signs that she might be magical. Harry had simply never mentioned it to anyone so that no one would worry – especially Dudley.

"Well then," said Mcgonagall, "Is there anyone you would like to go and tell the family the news? Or would you like to go yourself?"

Harry thought about the problem. Harry rarely saw the Dursleys anymore. Once a year, near Christmas, they would meet for a day so the kids could know each other, but Dudley and he never really spoke. Vernon and Petunia didn't even know about the Christmas meetings as far as Harry knew.

"Who do you usually send out to the muggle borns?"

"let's see, Proffesor Longbottom often goes. He understands some of the surprise of being a witch or wizard, you know. I go to the rest of them. I find it quite interesting to see how the parents, especially react."

"Why don't I go with you then?" Harry suggested. He wasn't sure if his presence would be a good thing or a bad thing for Daisy. It would be best not to go alone.

"Alright then, I shall send an owl when I figure out the day and time."

Harry got up. "Nice seeing you Professor."

"And the same to you Potter."

 **Hello everyone! I hope that after reading my first chapter, you'll keep going. This is my first fanfiction, and as I write this almost 2 years after the first chapter's original publishing (I've just published chapter 25) I'm amazed by how far it's come. I've gone from short quickly written chapters to chapters planned with almost 3000 words. So, if you keep reading, I hope you enjoy it. If you aren't planning to continue, I hope that reading my note might have encouraged you to do so. The other chapters in this book have not had any part of them changed, including the authors notes. They remain as they were. When I'm completely done, I might go back and do some editing of these first few chapters.**

 **For muggle studies: Hogwarts has changed, they now have some normal classes like English (first year must have) and optional classes of math, science, and foreign languages.**


	2. Chapter 2: Daisy's Birthday

Chapter 2

Daisy's Birthday

Dudley's POV

"Open it darling," Anna coaxed. Dudley, Anna, and Poppy sat in a circle on the floor around the living room. They were all facing Daisy, who sat facing one last present, the rest lay behind her with the wrapping paper cast to the side.

 _I hope I got her enough_ Dudley thought. He had decided not to bury her in gifts as he had been at her age. Although it was great at the time, he had come to realize that it hadn't helped his character to be spoiled. He and Anna had however, gotten her her most-requested gift, and was slightly nervous about her new responsibilities.

Dudley watched as Daisy tore the paper off the small box. Her eyes widened, and she squealed, "Thank you!" as she ran at him and tackled him with a hug. She then went back and opened the box, who's cover showed a life-sized picture of her new smart phone. Poppy was already helping her older sister by reading the instructions out loud while Daisy followed them to set up her account.

Dudley was relieved. Of course, getting her such an expensive present would make up for the fact that there were no where near 30 of them. Now he only had to tell her about all the rules that came with having the phone. Wouldn't that be fun?

Daisy's POV

"Great, is that all? Can I go now?" Daisy asked, her feet sliding towards her bedroom door.

"One last thing," her dad said. "No texting or calling anyone but me and mum past 8:30."

"Really?"

"Yes really, or we'll be returning that phone."

Daisy sighed. "Okay, sure." She would find a way to increase the time somehow. She was just heading up the stairs when the doorbell rang. It was probably someone selling something, she thought. Who else could it be? Grandma Petunia and Grandpa Vernon had stopped by earlier.

All the same, she decided to open the door. Maybe her dad would buy her some cookies or popcorn or something. She peered outside using the small window beside the door. It wasn't a sales person. It was an old woman she had never seen before.

Daisy backed away. "Daddy?" she called.

"I'm- oof – right here," Dudley said as Daisy backed into him. He stepped around her and unlocked the door. Daisy stood curiously behind him. People just didn't come and randomly knock on peoples door on their birthday, it could be another surprise. Then someone stepped out from behind the woman. "Uncle Harry!" Daisy exclaimed gleefully.

The look on Dudley Dursley's face showed that he had the exact opposite response to seeing his cousin. His face paled and he asked, "Please say it's just be a coincidence that you came on Daisy's 11th birthday?"

"He could say that, but I'm sure you would rather not be lied to under these circumstances. May we come in?"

Daisy looked from Harry to the woman. Why was it she was in charge? Why was she even here? Why did her father look so fearful?

"You might as well let us in Dudley," Harry said. "We're going to come in anyway."

Dudley reluctantly opened the door to them. Daisy still had no idea what was going on, and why her dad wouldn't want Uncle Harry in the house. She followed behind the train of people heading to the living room. Ahead of her, Anna, her mum, and Poppy, her sister had joined. Poppy was hopping up and down next to Harry, using all her control not to ask any questions.

Once everyone was seated, centered around herself and her parents Daisy noticed, Harry handed her a letter. Daisy skimmed along the words in the letter. "Dear Miss Dursley... You have been accepted... Hogwarts... witchcraft and wizardry... September 11th..."

"What does it mean?" Daisy asked. _It could be a fun amusement park with magic shows_ she thought. It would be just like her parents to surprise her like that.

"It means just what it says Miss Dursley," said the woman. _Professor Mcgonagall_ Daisy said to herself. "You have apparently inherited a bit from the magical side of your family. You are a Witch. You are invited to attend Hogwarts."

Daisy stared for a while. Everyone else stared back with serious faces. Then she burst out laughing. "You guys are so funny! Did you actually believe I would fall for that? What is this letter really for? An amusement park? A free ice cream? What?"

Then Harry spoke before she could go on. "We're telling the truth Daisy. Not one person in this room is joking, although I would be glad to get you a free ice cream as a birthday present. Haven't you ever done anything strange? Something that shouldn't be possible, but yet it was when you were experiencing a strong emotion? Think about it for a minute.

Daisy thought about it, and she found she could think of several odd situations. Then she spaced out of her living room and went for a trip down memory lane.

 **So, what do you think? Do you like it so far? I still need suggestions and staff appointments. Get some reviews coming, it says I have 2 story followers already, and I'd appreciate some encouragement. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3: Memories

Chapter 3

Memories

Daisy was five years old. It was her very first day away from all of her family. It was the first day of school, the day she had been dreading since she had been told about it.

Dudley was walking beside her, her small hand in his big one. Daisy had decided she wanted to walk to the primary school because it would give her more time to plan a way out of it. But, in no time at all, they were at the front door and then nearing her classroom.

"Have a good day, darling," her dad said, now crouched in front of her, speaking at eye level. Then straitened, turned and left. And Daisy realized she was not alone. There was a teacher beside her, and a room half-full of students behind her. She didn't move. She couldn't hear. She was solid rock, not even two teachers could move her. And then, she bolted, she ran as fast as she could, faster than the teachers, out the front door. Before she knew it, the teachers were out of sight and she was at home.

That wasn't the last strange thing to happen. When Daisy was 8 she and her best friend, Emma, had the greatest idea to cut and dye their hair. Emma took blue and purple dye from her sisters room, and they locked themselves in the bathroom. Her sister was supposed to be babysitting them, but had slacked off on the job. Long story short, Emma ended up with neat short purple hair, and Daisy ended up with very choppy, purply-blue hair. She went home crying about her hair, even though in he background she could hear Emma and her sister getting scolded.

Daisy went to sleep that night dreading to go to school with her crazy hair, but when she woke up she could feel her hair hanging around her shoulders like usual. When she looked in the mirror, her hair was the same length and style as they had been, although the ends were still blue.

It was late August, just after Daisy's 10th birthday. It was her final gift. Her parents had promised that they could go camping, Daisy's first time camping, for her birthday. They borrowed a tent from dad's coworker, and went out to a camp site by a lake. The first day had been amazing. After they set up the tent, they had gone canoeing, and hiking. To keep it like the stories, they had sat around their campfire and sung songs and Mom told a scary story that wasn't really that scary. It ended with the monster becoming friends with the little girl.

After story telling Daisy and Poppy sat outside by the fire alone for a while after their parents went inside the tent. Poppy started to poke the dieing fire with a long stick. Daisy started to throw small blue flowers into the flame, just because she was bored.

To her and Poppy's astonishment the fire framed the flowers, only singing the edge of the petals. It looked like the flowers themselves were made of hot, blue flame. She threw in more and more, each time they remained unburned for at least a whole minute. Poppy tried throwing them in, and nothing unusual happened.

The last memorable occasion was only a couple months before, when she had walked out it to the road, not noticing the car heading her way. Somehow, Daisy had blinked, and the car was on the other side of her as if she had passed right through it. No one had seen that event, except, she guessed, the car driver.

 **Reviews, reviews, reviews, how helpful they are, and how few I have.**

 **How did you like this chapter? I named the story flower sparks, but then I realized that I hadn't planned a chapter for the story about the flaming flowers, so I added this one. It didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it, but hopefully its okay. That's not the only reason for the story name either. Another reason was so that it wasn't just called "Dudley's Daughter" like everyone elses, and the other reason will be part of the story much later, so you'll have to wait!**

 **I still need comments about Hogwarts staff too.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4: The Elder's Anger

Chapter 4

The Elder's Anger

Harry's POV

Harry Daisy's face as she realized they weren't lying or joking. The amusement in her face faded to surprise and realization. Harry imagined he had probably looked something like that when Hagrid had said, "You're a wizard Harry." _At least_ , Harry thought, _their front door is still in tact_.

"So, how do I get into this school? Where do I get all my things? And what do I do if I don't want to go?"

Doesn't want to go? She doesn't _want_ to go? It hadn't once crossed Harry's mind that anyone wouldn't want to go to Hogwarts. His mouth curved down in a small frown. "Why don't you want to go?" He asked.

"It's not that I don't want to," she muttered. "It's just that I'd be leaving so many things behind here: my parents, my sister, all of my friends..." her words died out there. There was a pause of silence in the room. "What would I tell my friends? I can't very well say, 'I'm not coming back to school because it turns out I'm a witch and have been excepted into a special school,' can I?"

"No you can't tell them that. But you'll make loads of friends at Hogwarts, I promise you. You already have a few – Lily, Al, and James all go there. And, I'm sorry to say that it's required to go to a wizarding school if you have magic, and muggle parents that can't teach you."

"And I'm sure you'll be able to text your friends as often as you want, Daisy," Dudley added.

Harry's face flushed. This was obviously not going the way he had expected. "Actually, electronics don't work at Hogwarts."

"Don't work!" She shrieked. "Just when I get my first phone, I get sent off to a school where it will be no use?"

"Excuse me," Professor Mcgonagall interjected, "but this year we are adding a small building just out of Hogwarts grounds. It won't be magically protected, so there is risk, but muggle born's and half-bloods are welcome to keep electronics there. They can use them every weekend, and have full internet access and cellular signal."

Harry stared. Here was Mcgonagall of all people talking about muggle technology like it was something she dealt with every day – which maybe it was. If Daisy was acting like this, surely other muggle-borns were too.

"But what if Dudley or I need to contact her during the week?" Anna asked, saying her first words in the conversation.

"I can give you the telephone number for the office outside of Hogwarts, and they will send us an owl." Mcgonagall stated. "Alternatively, you could just buy your own owl. They're quite good friends as well as messengers."

"You can buy one – or two – when you buy your things. I was hoping that you would like to join me and my family two days from now to shop for school supplies. We can explain more to you then, and help you find your way around," added Harry.

"I guess that's what we'll have to do," Dudley conceded. He was taking the news much better than Harry had expected. He guessed that Dudley had noticed the signs just like he had. "Now if you don't mind," Dudley said, "We'd like to take a bit of family time to think about this."

"Of course," Harry and Mcgonagall said in unison, standing and heading towards the door. The whole Dursley family followed them out. Harry had just started to pivot on one foot to disapparate, when he saw a familiar red face filled with anger and heard, "What is that boy doing here, Dudley?" and with a crack, he and the headmaster were gone.

Dudley POV

Dudley groaned. Now was the absolute worst time for his parents to be here. Why were they here anyway? The already had come by earlier with a gift.

Reluctantly, Dudley escorted his parents into the house, back into the living room. His mother was silent, and by the look on her face, she knew exactly what had happened. His dad still hadn't caught on yet.

"How dare he intrude on this family?" He sputtered. "The Boy hasn't been seen since he made us move, and _now_ he turns up? What's that about? I hope you haven't been letting Daisy and Poppy hang around his type."

Dudley sat speechless facing his Dad. How was he supposed to tell him the news?

"Actually, Vernon," Anna said for him. "Harry and his family come around once a year near Christmas. We do something fun together, like play basketball, boardgames, or just chat. Also, I think we'll be seeing a lot more of him soon. He just came by to tell us Daisy has been accepted into Hogwarts."

 _Well, that was bold of her_ Dudley thought. _Especially since I'm not sure she believed my stories about Harry until today_.

"Our Daisy? A – a -a – one of them?" Dudley's dad spat. "It can't be true. She's normal, just like the rest of us. You won't let her go, will you Dudley?"

Dudley finally seemed to find his voice. "Of course I will. I can't have magic exploding out of

her because she never learned to control it, can I? And over all these Christmas holidays, I've realized that their world might not be as bad as we always thought.

"But – but you just can't -"

"I agree with them Vernon," Petunia said softly. "We should go, and give them some time alone."

 **Chapter 4, already out! Thanks for the guests who gave reviews. I will try to use more detail. I'll also think about what you said about Daisy being friends with Cho's son. Any name suggestions for him though?**

 **As always, reviews are welcome. If you have any names to put into the hogwarts staff, please say so. And, I need names for student extra's too. You could put your own, then you'll be in my hogwarts!**

 **Thanks, bye :-)**


	5. Chapter 5: Muggle Thoughts

**Thanks to everyone who keeps up reading this, as it is my first fanfiction. But because it is my first, I do need advice. Such as, should I get a beta? I'm not really sure how that works. How do I send the documents to them? How long does it take? I like my chapters out as soon as I finish writing. If any of you already reading this want to be my beta, please say so, and I'll think about it.**

Chapter 5

Muggle Thoughts

Daisy lay on her back on her bed, covers still neatly folded underneath her. Her hand lay over each other against her chest holding her phone. The phone that she wouldn't be able to use until 8:30 each evening. She'd only get to use it on weekends, it seemed.

Daisy didn't understand how she could have known the Potters for years and not know they had magical powers. Had they really done so much to keep it from her? Why? Her parents knew, what had been the big deal about her and Poppy knowing?

And then there was Hogwarts itself. Who would want to go to a school at a place that was literally named after a warty hog? _And their motto is just stupid – I mean, 'Do not tickle a sleeping dragon? What kind of motto is that?_ She thought.

Just then her new phone buzzed.

"Hey Dais, just got your text! Can't believe you finally got a phone."

"Me too." Daisy texted back. How was she supposed to tell Emma that she wouldn't be texting her that often, or going to school with her without giving too much away?

"Can't wait to see you when school starts. I haven't seen you all summer!"

"I know, I hope I'll see you too, but I'm not going to be going to Smeltings this year. New plans."

"WHAT? We've been planning for our new school practically our whole lives! What about school shopping together? And why did you suddenly decide not to come?"

"We can still go school shopping together. I'll still need notebooks and stuff, just not the uniform."

"Well, at least I'll see you then. But you avoided the second question. Where are u going to school then, and why did you change?"

"I'm going to some boarding school my cousins suggested to my parents. Apparently everyone on that side of the family has gone there and loved it. It wasn't really my choice to go there – I'm just getting sent there." Daisy hoped that would be enough detail for the moment. She crossed her fingers for no more school questions.

"Well, you'd better come back for holidays or I'm gonna be really mad." Is all she said in response. "I've got to go. Ttyl." and she was gone.

Daisy sighed and flopped back onto her pillow. Her room was large, with a queen sized bed all to herself. All the furnishings, the bed covers, the curtains, and the desk chair were all bright green, with highlights of yellow. Above the desk to the right of her bed were bookshelves, half full with books. Or, as Daisy liked to think about it, half empty, waiting for new stories to fill them. Maybe some would be written by Poppy someday. Her sister was an aspiring writer, even at age 9.

"I wonder if Lily has a phone," Daisy murmured to herself. Then she could ask her cousin all about Hogwarts. Surely, she would have answers for Daisy's many questions. She would ask her dad tomorrow she decided.

 **How was the full chapter of Daisy POV? I know it was short, but I really wanted to post a new chapter today. I have a feeling I'm going to have a lot of short chapters instead of rarely uploading long ones.**

 **Here are some questions you could think about to suggest:**

 _ **Lily and Hugo be in the same year as Daisy, or a year ahead**_

 _ **you think Lily would have a cell phone to keep up with muggle friends**_

 _ **is Cho's sons name**_

 _ **house should Daisy be in?**_

 _ **Staff names**_

 **Thanks for reviews ahead of time ;-)**


	6. Chapter 6: Dread

Chapter 7

Dread

Daisy woke up surprisingly early the day of the visit to Diagon Ally, and at first she didn't know why.

"Wow, I actually woke you up!" Poppy said, surprise echoing in her voice.

"What are you doing in here! You're supposed to knock!"

"I did, but you were a sleep and never answered." Poppy was bouncing up and down on the edge of Daisy's bed. "Aren't you at all worried or excited?"

"Why would I be?"

"Well, maybe because we are going to, lets see, Diagon Ally today? That you're going to meet a bunch of magical people like you soon?"

"Oh. Right." Daisy rolled out of bed and pushed her sister out. She got dressed in normal clothes, not knowing what else she could wear. Her dad had said that some wizards he had seen wore robes, but she didn't have any of those, and she would feel weird wearing them anyway.

Eventually she sat on the edge of the bed and waited. She didn't want to talk to anyone – she didn't feel any excitement, she felt scared. Her stomach felt like a toad was hopping around in it.

Daisy jumped when she heard someone knock on her door.

"Hey, it's time to go," whispered Harry as he peeked into the room.

"Oh," Was all Daisy said when she got up to follow Harry.

 **Harry POV**

"So where exactly is this wizard road place?" Dudley asked.

"It's not far from here, just across the road." Harry watched Dudley look across the road, where only a shabby pub stood. Of course, Dudley couldn't see it yet, only Daisy could.

"There's nothing there, Harry."

"It's there alright. Muggles can't see it until a wizard has brought them in at least once. Daisy can see it, can't you?"

"That shabby old place?" Daisy replied.

"Yep, that shabby old place. Lets go." Harry opened the door for his cousin and niece.*

 **Dudley POV**

Dudley gasped as the pub suddenly appeared as he stepped through the door. It wan't that strange of a place, except for the people in it. Nearly everyone inside was wearing a long robe. For the first time Dudley wondered if Harry only dressed like a muggle to make them more comfortable. Did he normally walk around in a long flowing robe like these folk?

"Follow me," Harry murmured. As the three of them walked by, several people turned to look at them. Harry nodded at them, and kept walking. When they got to the back yard surrounded by a brick wall, Dudley was stumped. Where did they go now.

His cousin stepped forward and tapped several bricks on the wall. Dudley watched in amazement as the brick folded away to reveal an archway, and an entire ally behind it.

"Amazing," He said. Dudley looked over at Daisy, expecting to see excitement in her face. Instead, she looked green and sickly. "It'll be okay darling. Harry will guide us." Daisy nodded at him, face unchanged and hands shaking.

"Alright then," Harry said cheerfully. He hadn't yet noticed that Daisy wasn't as excited as he had been his first time. "Let's go find the rest of the family."

 **Reviews Please! The questions writen in the last chapter still need answering, and here's one more.**

 **Do you think Emma should find out about Hogwarts somehow eventually (ex. Starts dating Hugo in later years? Or Cho's son? Or she could just overhear the cousins talking, or get a text meant for someone else?)**

 ***Would the term for this be niece or, first cousin, or second? I'm not good with the words for people's family.**

 **Thank you readers!**


	7. Chapter 7: Lily, James, & Albus

**Ok, so people seem to forget I know how many people have subscribed to my story – and that none of them have yet given a review, or suggestions. :-( I'm serious, this is my first fanfic, and I would appreciate at least a "Hi, I really like your story, keep it up!" Also, who's POV do you like best? I know I do a lot of skipping around, and it might not really matter since they barely differ, but as of now, I like writing in Dudley POV most. Anyways, on with the story.**

Chapter 7

Lily, James, and Albus

 **Lily POV**

"Mum, I think I see them!" Lily said, tugging on the sleeve of Ginny's dark purple robes. She could just see her dad's scar between the crowds of people.

"Yes, it is them mum, beat you there Al!" James spoke loudly over the crowd, and started pushing between all the walking people to get to his dad. Albus soon followed after him.

Lily walked at normal speed with Ginny at her side.

"Are you excited to see Daisy?"

"Definitely! I'm just a bit worried. She doesn't look very happy from here, and remember Dad said that she didn't want to come at first?"

"I'm sure she'll come 'round."

Then they were right across from each other, and Lily was hugging Daisy, and Daisy, though hesitantly, was smiling. As Lily let go she kept a hold on Daisy's hand. She had a feeling that Daisy needed her support now.

"Where are we going first Dad?" Albus asked.

"Flourish and Blotts, I think. Something that's somewhat normal."

The troop of Potters and Dursleys marched silently down Diagon Ally and into Flourish and Blotts.

"Anything I can help you with Sirs and Misses?" The short stocky shopkeeper asked at the desk. Lily handed over her and Daisy's school lists, and James and Al handed over theirs. They stood and waited for him to bring their books, and Lily looked over at Daisy. She was frowning at a shelf directly behind the desk labeled "Invisible Books of Invisibility."

"Ah, yes," the shopkeeper sighed. "We finally did stumble across those books in the backroom... unfortunately they don't sell well. No one wants a book they cant find."

"Do they become visible when you open them?" Harry asked.

"Why yes, they do. Well, the pages anyway, not the cover."

"I'll buy a copy then. It might be interesting." Lily stared at her dad. What on earth was he thinking, buying a useless invisible book?

As Harry payed for the book, Dudley's face turned red. "I can't let you buy all her stuff Harry, isn't there any way to exchange money so I can pay?"

"Oh! Of course, I forgot," Harry smiled slyly. "We'll stop at Gringots next, I already got you a vault."

"Gringots?"

"The one and only – well, used to be one and only* - wizard bank. Run by Goblins, so be forewarned. Don't be scared, they can be unfriendly at times, but they won't hurt you."

"Oh. Ok." Dudley frowned. Lily imagined he was trying to imagine what a goblin might look like. Like the ones from the _Lord of the Rings_ movies perhaps? Lily had watched one over Christmas with the Dursleys. It had greatly amused all of them to see those goblins.

Albus held the door for everyone as they left the book shop and headed to Gringots. Lily herself was excited too. This was the year she got her own Gringots vault just to herself, and although she had little money, it was still an accomplishment.

 **Please review.**

 **Next chapter: Gringots**

 **Then Wands and Owls**

 **Then Weasley's Wizard Wheezes**

 **Then Weasley famly gathering**

 **Then train to Hogwarts!**


	8. Chapter 8: Gringotts

**Yay! One more review! Thank you guest for your input!**

 **I will be posting a poll on my page with "Which house should Daisy be in" So, you won't even have to write a review. If you read this shortly after I post, and the poll isn't up yet, please check back later.**

 **Another note, I realized I have been spelling Gringotts "Gringots." This chapter, it will be spelled right.**

* * *

Chapter 8

Gringotts

 **Dudley POV**

"Wow..." Dudley was speechless as she walked into Gringotts bank. The tall white pillars stood proudly over the clean marble floors and neat desks and tables. Behind those tables strange, and not so friendly looking in Dudley's thoughts, walked about carrying various items. Every once in a while a which or wizard could be seen, one of whom with long red hair waved at Harry. _Must be a Weasley,_ Dudley thought.

All to soon, they had walked up to a Goblin at a desk, and Dudley had handed Harry his muggle money to exchange. What he got back resembled real gold, bronze, and silver pieces. _Wizards must be very rich._

Dudley did not enjoy the ride down to his new vault. The ride made him sick, while all around him the kids were clearly enjoying the twists and turns through the cave – even Daisy had broken out of her sullen mood and was laughing.

When it came time to visit Harry's vault, Dudley was again stunned. _Someday, none of this magic stuff will be a surprise to me,_ he muttered. Harry's vault, compared to the smallness of his and Lily's tiny vaults, was like comparing someone completely broke to a millionaire. _Maybe I should have let him buy Daisy's stuff – I wonder where all this gold came from!_ He silently thought to himself.

"Lets go then," Harry said. "Where do you lot want to go next?

"Olivander's!" Lily shouted.

"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes!" James exclaimed.

"Eeylop's Owl Emporium, so we can get Daisy an owl," Albus said practically.

"Alrighty then," Harry said, directing is speech to Ginny. "Why don't I take the boys ahead to Eeylop's, and we'll meet you there after you get the girls their wands?"

"Sounds good," Ginny replied, walking daintily down the front steps of Gringotts. "This way," She said, shepherding Dudley, Daisy, and Lily the opposite direction from where Harry and his sons were going.

They headed into a building that was apparently Olivander's wandshop. A young man stood behind the counter getting another 11-year-old his wand.

"Hello there, Mrs. Potter," an old man Dudley hadn't seen before said. "Lily's first year at Hogwarts, is it? Very nice, very nice. And who is this?"

"Nice to see you Mr. Olivander. This is Harry's niece Daisy Dursley, also starting at Hogwarts," Ginny said to the old man.

"Wonderful, I'll find Daisy her wand, while Sean here finds Lily one."

 **Lily POV**

The young man behind the counter didn't look up as he sent the measuring tape to measure Lily. It wasn't unexpected for her, she had been there when both of her brothers got their wands.

"Do you think this is the right area of wands, Mr. Olivander?" The new assistant asked.

"You need to start trusting your judgment Sean. If you still haven't found her a wand when I'm done with Daisy, I'll help you."

"Well, here you go then. Give this a wave."

Lily lifted the wand and swished it around. It immediately let out sparks, and felt right in her hand.

"Perfect!" Sean said delightedly, his plain face looked very handsome when he smiled.

Both of them looked over to see Daisy's progress. Daisy had already tried 5 wands, each with no success. She was starting to look fearful. Lily could imagine she must be thinking she wasn't really a which at all. On her 10th wand, it finally sparked, and both girls walked out of the shop pleased with their new wands.

"Willow, 12 inches with phoenix feather core, rather bendy," Daisy told Lily on the way to the owl emporium. "What's yours?"

"11 inches, black walnut wood with unicorn tail hair core. Unyielding," Lily replied.

"Let me see, Lil," Albus said, turning up behind an owl cage. After they were finished showing off their wands to James and Albus, Harry called Daisy and Lily over.

"So, as a "going to Hogwarts" present, I've gotten both of you an owl. Take a look."

Daisy's owl was a gorgeous, mostly white barn owl. He was quite young, but had already been owned by someone who had given him the name 'Constellation – my star bird.' _I wonder why someone had to get rid of such a precious owl!_ Lily's owl was a small brown true owl. _I'll have to give you a name when I get home._ Lily set the reminder in her head.

"Thank you so much Harry!" Daisy said. All traces of the nervousness she had shown at first was gone. Her owl was just perfect. "Will you be getting an owl, dad?" Daisy asked.

"Ah, I think not. We'll just call if we need to contact you. Your mom would throw a fit at a wild animal in the house, no matter how trained it is." Dudley said.

They were now nearing Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, the most fun place in Diagon Ally. And also the place her dad had admitted he was afraid of taking Dudley to.

* * *

 **So, how was my longest chapter? Again, please leave reviews, not just guests, but followers and likers too.**

 **Don't forget to vote on what house Daisy should be in! It will be on my profile!**


	9. Chapter 9: Ton Tongue Toffee

Chapter 9

Ton Tongue Toffee

"This is where we're going to meet mum and Poppy, right?" Daisy asked Harry.

"Yes, we should see them somewhere in front of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. That's where I asked Teddy to take them."

"Teddy?" Dudley asked. "Your godson, right?"

Daisy had heard a lot about the various relatives of the Potters over Christmases, but she had never met any of them besides the immediate family. The only thing she distinctly remembered about Uncle Harry's godson was that he could change his appearance at will. _How unfortunate it was she couldn't_ Daisy thought. She had to wait for her hair to grow out in order to dye it a new color.

"And there it is. The best store in Diagon alley," James said. Daisy could just see the outline of a very colourful shop in the distance with someone with blue hair standing underneath.

Daisy was surprised by the shop's appearance, and didn't really hear anything from the adult's conversation once she had hugged her mum and introduced herself to Teddy. It had been a bit awkward when Daisy realized that Teddy knew she had been staring at his hair.

"It's amazing here isn't it Daisy?" Poppy asked, not needing an answer. Turning away from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, she demanded, "Show me everything you've bought so far."

Daisy handed over her bags, keeping only her wand in her pocket. She would show that for Poppy last.

"I wish I was eleven," Poppy murmured. Her eyes gleamed at so many interesting things, although she laughed when she found quills and parchment. "Why would you use these when you can have pens, pencils, and lined notebooks?" was her unanswerable question.

Daisy was happy to let her sister look through her new school supplies while she waited for her parents, Harry, and Teddy to stop talking and get on with the tour. She couldn't help thinking about the future though. Was there any guarantee that Poppy was magical? Harry hadn't mentioned it when he talked about seeing Daisy's signs. And what would she buy on her non-magical shopping trip with Emma? She supposed, that she would prefer notebooks to parchment, and it couldn't hurt to bring a few and use them if she was allowed.

"Dad, can we go inside? We don't need a tour," Albus asked, James behind him already going inside.

"Go ahead, we'll be inside in a moment."

Surprisingly, they actually did follow shortly. Daisy was instantly attracted to the pygmy puffs over any other magical thing there. Poppy followed, but was more interested in their skiving snackboxes.

"If I took this to my school, no one would know it was magic, and I'd get the whole day off!" She said gleefully.

"Which is why," their dad added, pulling the package out of her hand, "I'm not buying any." Dudley had been wandering the store with them, always close the whole time even though Harry had said that nothing would go wrong as long as they didn't open anything. Anna, meanwhile, had stayed in the muggle tricks section, a fearful look across her face. She had only briefly come across to see the pygmy puff, which Dudley had finally agreed to buy Poppy as long as she never showed any of her muggle friends.

"Going to buy any of our treats? I can show you some customer favorites if you like." The voice came from behind Daisy, but she could see her father's mixed expression of fear and outrage as soon as she heard it. She turned around.

-oo000oo-

It took Dudley a moment to recognize the freckled face in front of him, and when he did, memories of his stretched out tongue came back to him. It had been his worst experience with wizards at the time, and didn't help him stop being afraid of them at all. He had only eaten one of their candies and a minute later his mouth felt full, and then his tongue was a foot long! Except at the time, he hadn't fully understood that it was his tongue.

Because of this, Dudley thought, it was completely understandable to be angry - angry and slightly afraid - of the man standing in front of him. It was also completely understandable that the smile on George's face did not help in the slightest.

It seemed to take George a bit longer to recognize Dudley. He had of course, lost weight, and looked quite a bit older. When George finally did so, a look of understanding and humor flitted across his face.

"Ah, suppose not then, am I right?"

"You are most certainly correct!" Dudley said, and for a moment he reminded himself of his father.

Fortunately George, and his son Fred who had briefly spoken to the kids, had other things to attend to, and the Potters and Weasleys left the shop. School supplies, pets, and items from the joke shop filled everyone's hands. Poppy kept turning her head to look at the light green pygmy puff on her shoulder with amazement. Lily was clutching her wand in her hand like it was the most precious thing she had. And Daisy? She was looking everywhere thoughtfully at her owl, her cousins, sister, parents, and back at the alley they were leaving behind.

Someday, this will be her "normal." Dudley realized, and hoped it could be his too.

* * *

Sorry about not posting every week like I said. I guess I underestimated how busy I would be.

Thanks to everyone who has posted a review, I really do appreciate it. It gives a lot of encouragement to continue.

Special thanks to dreamflower02, my new beta.


	10. Chapter 10: Dealing with Emma

**Dealing With Emma**

"Bye, Mum!" Daisy said. It was the day following the visit to Diagon alley, and she was going on another shopping trip. This one was entirely non-magical, and since she already had all her school supplies, was just for the purpose of keeping Emma from getting suspicious, or angry since the two of them always went school shopping together.

The friendship between Daisy and Emma started when the two were given desks next to each other on the first day of primary school. As they got closer and started going to each other's houses, their mom's met, and realized they had been close friends in secondary school, which brought their whole families closer together. There were rarely any secrets between the two girls, and when there were, they were always birthday surprises, or small secrets that lasted little more than a week. The guilt Daisy felt from keeping such a big secret from her best friend was the worst she had ever felt.

Daisy turned away from the car window to face Emma. Emma was looking, a smile playing at the left corner of her mouth. Daisy too had to stop herself from grinning back and causing them to burst out with giggles.

"So, Daisy, how was your summer?" Mrs Taylor asked.

Daisy flinched. She hated being questioned, especially when she was sure that Mrs. Taylor would ask about her new school. "It was great! I really missed Emma though."

"Go anywhere exciting this year?" She said.

"No, my aunt and her family came here for a lot of the summer. She's from America, and it was the first time I had ever met her, or my cousin, Zach." Daisy said. It was probably best to talk about the beginning of summer, not the end of it.

"It's nice you finally got to meet them then," Mrs. Taylor murmured.

"That isn't the cousin that told your parents about your new school, is she?" Emma asked, looking a bit confused. She had never heard about any of Daisy's other family before this summer.

"No, of course not!" Daisy laughed. She hoped that she wouldn't have to answer anymore questions, especially with Mrs. Taylor there. Luckily for her, they arrived at Tesco before she was forced to say anything else.

Emma pulled out a school supply list. "Where's yours?" she asked.

"I, er, forgot it." Daisy said, searching her shoulder bag. Everyone had forgotten about the list in the plan for the cover-up story. "It's probably pretty close to yours though, and I'm sure I can remember any extras."

"Okay then, well let's start with pens and pencils and such," Emma strode purposefully towards the correct aisle. Her mother went off in another direction, telling Emma to find her, or call on the mobile when they were finished.

Once they were alone, they got to filling the cart with various pens, pencils, highlighters, and erasers. It was only when they had finished getting everything they needed for that department that Daisy realized how quiet it was. It was unlike Emma to go without talking when they were together.

"What's wrong Em?" Daisy asked.

Emma looked up, startled. Her eyes drifted away from Daisy's and down to the floor. "I was just curious about your new school. Do you really not want to go to it? Why are they forcing you? Is it something I did?"

"Something you did?" Daisy was shocked. Of all the crazy things to come up with, she thought it was her fault. "I promise, nothing you did caused this, or could change what happened. I have to go, not because I want to, I have to. I'll text you as often as I can and come home every break, I promise."

Emma still looked sad, but there wasn't anything else Daisy could say.

"Well, at least tell me what the place is called. I'll look it up, and maybe I could go there next year," Emma said.

"It's called, um, St. Cecilia's School of Music," It took Daisy a minute to remember the name of her fake school.

Emma was still in front of her, staring at Daisy's flushed face, but she turned away. "If you didn't want to be friends anymore you should've just said so." and she continued gathering binders, and paper.

"I still want to be friends Emma! Forever! Best friends!"

"Then why can't you tell me anything about where you're going? It's not like your family are secret agents or something."

"No, it's just that it's a music and arts school. I got in because of that concert I played in last year, remember? They thought my singing and piccolo skills were exemplary, " Daisy said. She expanded on the music school idea by mentioning her concert. "I had to audition and everything. It's a pretty small school, they don't let many people in each year." Daisy looked at Emma. Her face was somewhat doubtful, but Daisy could tell she was trying to believe her.

"They wouldn't let you in Emma," Daisy pictured all Emma's failed attempts to enter choir and band at school. "You won't be able to apply online either, because all students must audition in person. I'm really sorry." Harry had set up a fake website and email, but Daisy still hoped Emma didn't go that far into her research.

"Okay. I guess I can understand that," Emma said. She let a small smile creep onto her face. "I can only imagine me trying to audition! They'd probably run away or faint from my singing."

The rest of their shopping trip went well, with laughter, and no more arguments.


	11. Chapter 11: Gathering at the Burrow

**It's finally here! Sorry I was gone for so long, I wasn't expecting such an absence. Thanks to all my reviewers and my beta, you've been so supportive.**

 **Michelle Itkin, I may include your character, but probably not as a child of a character from the original series.**

 **And yes, Daisy is going in Hufflepuff or Gryffindor. I know which one, but you'll have to wait to find out :)**

* * *

 **Gathering at the Burrow**

"Are you two ready?" Dudley asked his daughters.

"Yes, but how are we getting there?" Poppy asked. "I thought Uncle Harry was getting us."

"He was going to, but decided to stay at the rodent hole-"

"-Burrow." Poppy corrected.

"Yes, exactly. He decided to stay there and help with setup. His friend, Aunt Ginny's brother, Ron, is getting us." Dudley finished. "Hopefully, in a car."

Daisy though about his last comment. She knew wizards had other ways of transportation, including disappearing into thin air, but had no idea how they worked, or if you could transport muggles that way.

About five minutes later, they all heard a car's honk in the driveway and gathered their bags. They would be staying at the Burrow for two days, leaving the morning of the third.

"Just throw your bags in the trunk and get in," Ron said. "Then, you two," He pointed at Daisy and Poppy, "hop in the back. Keep your pets with you."

Everyone did just as Ron said, and when it came time to leave, they all turned to Anna.

"By mum," Poppy said.

"Have a good time at the wedding," said Daisy.

Anna had been planning to go to the wedding for months now, and had decided not to cancel for this wizard event. If Dudley was honest with himself, he thought he knew that the wedding was not the only reason not to come. She simply wanted no more to do with magic than she absolutely had to in order to make Daisy happy.

Dudley got into the passenger side of the car and immediately realized this was no normal car. It was spacious, the front had three seats instead of the normal two, and the back looked like it could fit a whole clan of children back there.

Instead, there was Poppy, wide smile stretching across her face, staring back at him. Both girls had their hair braided today. Poppy's dark brown hair lay two elegant braids across her shoulders as she sat. Daisy's hair was more like her mother's. Light brown, naturally wavy towards the ends, which on Daisy, were currently dyed purple. In a braid, it wasn't as smooth as Poppy's, but still pretty.

"Ready?" Ron asked, getting in the driver's seat.

"Definitely!" Poppy said, leaning forwards to pull herself closer to the front.

"Put your seatbelt on," Dudley chided.

When she was safely back in her seat, Ron started driving.

"So, when we get there, you will see lot of people. A lot of magical people," he said to all of them. "All of them know who you are, and most of them won't try any tricks or anything. You girls will be staying in the girls tent - my niece Victoire will be in charge, kind of like a counselor. Dudley, you'll probably ending up sharing a room with Harry and I - with the space we have, we have to get at least three in a room, so it just works out that way. Harry requested that you not share with George, and he decided to stay in the boy's tent anyway."

The rest of the trip went smoothly, Daisy and Poppy occasionally asking about the other kids that would be attending. At last, they arrived at an empty field. Dudley suddenly remembered," Oh! I forgot, I have a dentist appointment today, we should turn around." Poppy nodded in agreement.

Ron chuckled, and Daisy looked confused. "That's our protective spells for you. Any muggle nearby finds themselves remembering an appointment and going in the opposite direction from our house - but now we've past the boundary can you see the house now?"

"Yes, yes I can." Dudley didn't mention the fact that it looked more like a leaning tower or sculpture than a house.

Ron looked off into the distance. "Why don't we leave Daisy and Poppy with Lily and Rose, and I'll show you around?"

"Uh, alright," Dudley agreed. He could now see Ron's daughter, Rose, whom he had learned about during the car ride, standing with Lily in front of a small tent. He comforted himself, saying that Daisy was a responsible child, and Poppy - well Daisy could keep track of Poppy.

When the door of the house opened, voices were carried out to Dudley's ears, and as he peered in he saw a lot more people than he was expecting. Quite a few had red hair too.

"Ah, you must be Dudley," an older man said, walking up to him. "You've changed of course, but I can still see it's you."

"Mr. Weasley?" Dudley asked.

The man laughed. "Yes, although there are quite a few 'Mr. Weasleys' around these days. You can call me Arthur."

Over the course of an hour, Dudley was introduced to what he hoped to be all of the Weasley and Potter family. If there were any more of them, he thought his head might explode. Sometimes he caught glimpses of Daisy or Poppy walking by with other children.

At the end of the day, after a filling meal, Dudley found himself sitting next to Audrey Weasley as some others prepared for a quidditch match.

"Do you play?" Dudley asked, attempting to make conversation.

Audrey smiled. "No, us muggles have to stay here on the ground together, don't we.

"You're a muggle!" he said. He hadn't been expecting that there would be any besides himself - and possibly Poppy. He spent the rest of the evening speaking with Audrey and her husband, Percy, Ron's older brother, before going to sleep in Ron's old room with Harry, and Ron himself.

* * *

"Hi," Daisy said as she and her sister approached Lily and Rose.

"Hi Daisy," Lily said. "This is Rose, my cousin. She's Uncle Ron's daughter."

"Yes, um, Uncle," was she supposed to call him uncle? "Ron mentioned you and Hugo. He's in the same year Lily and I are in, isn't he?"

"Yes, but he's a little pest. I'm sure you and I will be just as good of friends. Come on, we'll show you the tent," Rose reached for Daisy's hand and lead her towards the small, worn, 3 person tent out on the lawn. "You'll love it. Go on, inside."

Daisy stepped inside not expecting much, but she was greeted by a whole house inside the shabby tent. There was a mini kitchen, living and dining areas, and three bunk beds.

"That one's yours," Said Lily, pointing at one of the beds. "I'm right above you, Rose is across from you. Roxanne, Fred II's sister - you haven't met her yet, is above Rose. Molly and Lucy - you haven't met them yet either - share the last bunk. Victoire and Dominique are camping out in the living area.

Rose and Lily spent the rest of the time before dinner showing Daisy and Poppy around. At some point, Albus joined them, but left quickly because Rose was glaring ferociously at him. Daisy and Poppy got to meet all the other girls, and most of the boys before the meal, and afterwards they watched an extremely exciting game of quidditch.

Rose sat with Daisy as the game started, explaining each role, and who was playing it. Daisy and Poppy were fascinated, and couldn't wait to try. Rose studied Poppy for a moment. "I don't think we'll be able to this time, but whether or not you can ride a broom will tell you if you're magic enough to go to Hogwarts."

"No it won't," Albus said, overhearing her words. "I'm a wizard, but I absolutely suck at quidditch."

"Well, it might tell you then. No guarantees or anything," Rose finished. "Now, on with the game. These are pretty even teams if you ask me…"

 **Team 1:**

Keeper: Fred II

Chasers: Ginny, Dominique, Hugo

Beaters: Louis, Ron

Seeker: Harry

 **Team 2:**

Keeper: Lily

Chasers: James, Angelina, Roxanne

Beaters: George, Molly II

Seeker: Charlie

As Daisy watched, she found herself most interested in the chasers and Keepers. Possibly because that was where most of the action was, but also because she wondered if she could ever fly that well, if she could ever get on a house team like Rose mentioned. When a bludger whooshed by, Daisy flinched backward, breath held in fear. Poppy, quickly grabbed the extra bat, and hit the bludger towards George and back into the game.

Poppy's eyes gleamed with pride as she watched "her bludger" fly back into the game. Daisy knew what Poppy would be trying out for if she could - beater. _I wonder what dad would think of that!_

After the bludger incident, Poppy started up cheering for Harry's side, so when Ginny got close to scoring a goal, Daisy decided to take a side.

"Defense, Defense, Defense!" She yelled along with Poppy's encouragement. Those watching the game stared with curiosity, never having heard anything like it.

In the end, team 1 won, when Harry caught the snitch. Before that, scores were close with one hundred and thirty points for team one, and one hundred and forty points from team two. The game lasted for hours, and when it was done everyone looked exhausted. Even so, Daisy was sad to leave in the morning.


	12. Chapter 12: Between 9 and 10

disclaimer: all recognizable characters and places belong to JK Rowling.

 **Between 9 and 10**

All four Dursleys stood in Kings Cross station, between platforms 9 and 10.

"What do we do now?" Daisy asked.

"I have no idea," Dudley replied, his tone vague and flat, as if his mind wasn't quite focused on his current situation.

"What are you thinking about?" Poppy said, taking her father's hand.

"I was just thinking about all the times we left Harry here, and picked him up. Yet, somehow, we never saw how he got on the platform. Strange, isn't it? I don't understand how we were so uninterested - disgusted even - about his life."

Daisy looked at her dad, also deep in thought. Daisy didn't know much about Harry and Dudley's childhood relationship. She knew her grandparents had not approved of Harry's magic, and had treated him badly, but all she knew about her father's relationship was what he had told her. _I was very mean to him, Daisy. I was a horrible person to him, and so many others, and I regret it. I wish I could change what had happened, but the best I can do is raise you and Poppy to be caring people. People who already know what matters most is not themselves._

"There's Harry now," Anna pointed as she said his name. Sure enough, the Potters, and several groups of Weasleys had come into view amid the crowd of people. It was hard to miss them, with so many red heads.

Harry smiled at all of them in greeting. "Ready to go to Hogwarts, Daisy?"

Daisy smiled back, "As ready as I'll ever be, I guess." Daisy still wasn't entirely sure what to expect at her new school. She had so many questions, like _how does sorting work? what are the Hogwarts houses? Do we have to wear robes_ all _the time?_ and many more.

"Then," Harry was was talking to everyone now, "you'll finally see how us wizards get to school." He motioned for the many Weasleys to go ahead of them.

First up, was Ron with Rose. They were pulling Rose's trunk on a trolley towards the brick wall at a swift pace, and in the end seemed to be running. And then they were gone.

Daisy blinked. How was that possible? There they were, about to crash, and then they were just _gone_. This happened again and again as more and more people went through the barrier and disappeared. Dudley, who was standing next to Daisy, appeared faint. Anna simply looked confused and Poppy was delighted and eager to go next.

Lucky for Poppy, it soon was their turn to go through. Harry put everyone with someone who had done this before, and prepared to go through. First, Lily ran with Poppy, who showed no fear whatsoever, through the brick wall and out of sight. That was all Daisy needed to boost her confidence. If her little sister, who might not have magic at all, could get through the barrier, well, then so could she. Ginny took hold of one side of the trolley and started to walk towards the barrier.

 _Here we go_ , Daisy thought. She and Ginny were running now, and they were going to crash. She could see it now, this was a stupid thing to do. The bricks were just bricks, and the impact would be hard and painful, but it was too late to turn back now. She closed her eyes as she neared the wall.

But the crash never came. When Daisy opened her eyes, she was on a platform, full of people. A scarlet steam engine stood on the tracks in front of her.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Poppy asked, suddenly appearing at Daisy's side.

Daisy just laughed. Amazing was an understatement.

Nearby, she saw a boy about her age, who was saying, "Dad, I think i've lost Buttercup again."

"Really, Frank," the man standing next to him said. He turned away to search, while muttering, "and I thought a cat would be harder to lose than a toad."

Behind Daisy, the rest of her family and the Potters had arrived. James and Albus were already rushing off in different directions to find friends. Lilly, however, stayed by her side.

"There's only five minutes until the train leaves - we should go find a compartment," she declared over the voices heard from all over the station.

"Yes, um, just a moment," Daisy said, equally as loud, her voice still barely heard. She turned around and faced her parents and little sister. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes, but she wouldn't let them fall. This was supposed to be a happy occasion, not one where she fell apart. "I guess this is goodbye for now, then," she said.

Dudley nodded grimly and stepped forwards, wrapping his arms around Daisy. This wasn't helping Daisy prevent tears, but she hugged him back, and then hugged her tearful mother too.

Finally, Poppy was there, hugging her and whispering, "I don't know why everyone's crying! You're going to have a great time. Send me an owl every week. It won't bother mum if it comes to my window.

"Okay, I will," Daisy smiled back. "Bye!" She waved at her family as she got onto the train with Lily.

"Okay then, let's find a compartment; preferably without any of my cousins," Lily said wearily.

Luckily for them, there was an empty compartment not far from where they had gotten on.

"Perfect!" Lily said after stowing her trunk and flopping down on a seat by the window. "This is just how we'll meet new friends. We have a mostly empty compartment - someone will come by needing a seat."

Daisy wondered how Lily would know this, and why she wanted new friends when she seemed to have so many in her family already. Lily was right in thinking more people would come by though. Not a minute after they were situated, a short girl with dark wavy brown hair opened their compartment door.

"Are these seats empty? Do you mind if I sit with you?" She asked.

Lily beamed, delighted with her success at finding a new friend. "Of course you can sit! I'm Lily Potter, and this is my cousin Daisy. What's your name?"

The girl looked a bit startled at Lily's optimism. "I'm Sophia Hatman," she said. "Are you really Lily Potter, Harry Potter's daughter?"

"Yeah, but I'm not any different than the rest of you people, I promise. He's just my dad."

Sophia nodded. "Well nice to meet you two anyway."

Now was the last time before sorting that Daisy would get to ask about houses, but she wasn't sure she wanted to show how much she didn't know about Hogwarts to their new "friend."

"So, Lily, you promised you'd tell me about the houses on the way there," she started to say, briefly glancing at Sophia who had taken the seat next to her.

"Oh! Right, I did tell you I'd explain," she said, not losing any enthusiasm. She turned to Sophia and said, "Daisy's from the Muggle side of the family, so she doesn't know as much as we- as much as I do yet. Were you born into a wizard family?"

"I wasn't, actually. I'm Muggle born, but I was adopted into a wizard family last year, so I know quite a bit."

"Then, maybe you'll gain some information too, then. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. Most of my family, Weasleys and Potters both, have been if Gryffindor, with the exception of Albus. Gryffindor is the house of courage, and determination. I hope all of us get into Gryffindor, it's the best."

Daisy was a little bit worried at this topic. Were the other houses bad, or not as good then? If all of these heroic families went there, would she be cast aside if she didn't get in? What about if she did get in? Then she would have to live up to the reputation of bravery, wouldn't she?

Lily continued on. "Slytherin, no matter what other people say about it, isn't completely horrible. It's the house for those who are cunning, and ambitious. People say it's evil because every dark wizard that attended Hogwarts was once a Slytherin, but Albus is in there, and dad named him after a hero that was in Slytherin. You have a small chance of getting in though, because it's rare for muggle-borns."

"Then, Ravenclaw is basically a house for smart people, and I don't really know much about it. Hufflepuff is pretty much everyone else. I mean, I guess it's supposed to be for hardworking, loyal, and fair people."

Silence then took over from Lily's talk.

Finally, Daisy asked, "How are you sorted into houses then?"

Lily's eyes glinted mischievously. "Maybe I should just let you wait and see…"

"No!" Sophia said. "Don't worry about it Daisy, I do know about the sorting, I'll tell you. All you have to do is put on this old hat, and it reads your mind and decides what house you would best fit into. Then it shouts your house out loud, and you take it off, and join your table. No big deal."

At about noon, an old woman knocked at the door, asking if they wanted anything off her trolley. Daisy didn't have much money, but Lily told her to get anything she wanted.

As expected, the trolley didn't have anything you could get at Muggle stores. Daisy had tried Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans at the family reunion, and didn't fancy any more grass or bark flavored ones. She did take a Chocolate Frog, though.

She opened it without asking, but sure it would be a real frog. It wasn't. But, there was a collectible card underneath the chocolate.

It read: _Harry Potter, the first and only known wizard to survive the killing curse, earning him the title "the Boy-Who-Lived." He is most famous for the defeat of the most dangerous dark wizard of all time, Lord Voldemort, in 1998. He was also the youngest to compete in the triwizard tournament. Potter now works as head of magical law enforcement in the ministry of magic._

"Wow, I didn't know your dad did so much, Lily."

She laughed. "That's a first. Everyone knows my dad in the wizarding world."

All three of us turned to look out the window. A thick forest, and river could be seen flying past.

"It's probably time to get our robes on," Sophia said.

After the girls had changed, they looked out the window again, and saw a magnificent castle, lit up by brilliant lights in the dark evening sky.

A voice came on, although Daisy saw no speakers. "We will arrive at Hogwarts in five minutes time. Please leave luggage on the train, it will be taken to the castle separately."

Daisy looked over at Lily who was grinning excitedly. "We're here, we're finally here," she whispered.

Daisy nodded. She was excited too - but just as much so nervous.

Then the train slowed to a stop. They were nearly at Hogwarts.

 **Some HP questions for readers:**

 **Have you read (or seen) the Cursed Child? What did you think of it? I have read it now, but it's too late to incorporate it in this story, and would make the plot confusing anyway.**

 **Have you seen "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them?" I really enjoyed it (more than HP and CC). Which was better if you've read or watched both?**

 **Some story questions:**

 **Where do you think the story will go from here? (I know I haven't put any hints in yet, but still think about the question)**

 **Do you have any names for OCs going to Hogwarts? If you do, put their name, year, and a short description**

 **Any writing tips for me?**

 **Right now I have POVs planned for Daisy, Dudley, and possibly Harry and Poppy. Is there anyone you would like to hear from?**


	13. Chapter 13: Brave Wise Loyal or Cunning

**Hi guys! So for those of you following me, you might have noticed I put up a new story. It's about other students at Hogwarts when Harry was there - I hope some of you read it and post a review once I have another chapter up.**

 **About writing though… I have SO MANY Ideas that I want to write about, but I know If I just start them just like that, I'll probably end up quitting after the first two chapters, so I made myself some rules preventing me from publishing random ideas that never finish. They're on my page, if anyone else has this problem too.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading about my writing problems. It's probably a good thing I have these rules, or I would have about 10 stories going on at the same time.**

 **Lisa Cooper and anyone else who was wondering about this, one of the next two chapters is going to be Dudley's Pov, and should give you some answers.**

* * *

 **Brave, Wise, Loyal, or Cunning**

"Firs' years! Firs' years, over here!" A giant man with long bushy hair and beard held a lamp over the crowd of children before him. He stood more than twice as tall as any of the first years, and cast a foreboding shadow over the students, but once Daisy could see his friendly face, with twinkling eyes and a bright smile, she figured he couldn't be as scary as he looked.

Daisy looked around. Lily and Sophie had already been pulled away from her by the packs of students milling around randomly. Daisy pushed her way through a group of older kids to reach Lily, who she had only been able to see by her brightly colored hair in the foggy darkness.

"This way," Daisy said, tugging on Lily's sleeve.

Lily looked up. "Oh, hey it's Hagrid!" she said, still in her unfamiliar, cheery tone, and pulled Daisy and Sophie towards him.

They were about to approach Hagrid, when they were stopped by a small elderly man at a long table in the middle of the path.

"Electronics please," he recited. "And don't sneak any through. They'll only break once they enter the Hogwarts grounds."

Daisy took out her mobile, now covered in a dark blue protective case, and her laptop and held them out to the man. He took them from her, and placed them in a metal lockbox about the size of a small suitcase. "Here's your key, you will be told when you can access your items. Good evening."

After Sophie had handed over her mobile and received her key, the three girls walked over to the group of first years who were collecting by Hagrid. After all of them had been accounted for, they all followed Hagrid down a slick, steep slope, surrounded by something - Daisy guessed tall trees - that blocked out all light.

Soon, Daisy started hearing gasps of amazement coming from the students in the front, and peered over their heads to see what they were looking at. The path ahead had widened, and all the first years could now see the towering castle over the broad black lake spread out before them.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid said, and gestured for all of them to get in one of the small wooden boats at the shore.

Sophia led the way to one of the empty boats, and all three sat down. Joining them, was a boy that Daisy didn't recognize, but no one was interested in talking about themselves when there was so much to be seen.

Just as she started to wonder where the oars were, Daisy realized that their small fleet of boats had already started gliding through the lake towards the castle. The waves could barely be noticed, and she would have sworn there weren't any at all if not for the sound of them slapping the sides of the boats.

After passing under the castle, they turned up at another boat harbor, and everyone got out.

"Now, follow me this way everyone," Hagrid called, helping the last student out of his boat. He led them up a flight of steps up to a pair of humongous oak doors, and knocked. Daisy turned around just in time to see the last few boats disappearing around the edge of the castle, to where, she could only guess.

The door only took a few moment to open, and behind it was a short wizard who introduced himself as Professor Flitwick, Deputy Headmaster.

Hagrid dipped his head, and stepped back to let them through, smiling at them as they went by. Daisy noticed he was particularly sure to smile at the ones that looked nervous.

Daisy stepped into the Hall not expecting anything too grand, but she couldn't help but gasp once she saw the room. The ceiling was taller than she could see, and marble staircases led up in different directions. There were no electric lights, only torches hanging on the walls, and lots of large windows, that surely showed lots of light during the day.

Once all the first years stood in the hall, Professor Flitwick turned around. "Welcome to Hogwarts!" She said. "The first term feast will begin in just a few moments, but before you can find seats, you must be sorted into your houses. The four houses are Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. What house you are put into is very important, because you cannot get re-sorted, and while you are here you will eat, sleep and spend free time in your house dormitory, and have classes with members of your house. Each house has it's own unique history and qualities that will suit different people. For the rest of the year, your doings will earn, or lose your house some points, and the house cup will be awarded to the leading house at the end of the school year. I wish you all the best of luck - I'll be back to lead you into the Great Hall momentarily."

"Soon, we'll all be sitting together at the Gryffindor table. I'm sure of it," Lily whispered to Daisy and Sophia. Daisy smiled and nodded, but inside she couldn't help but not want to be in Gryffindor. She wasn't brave enough. How could she be? But what other house would she go into? None of the others seemed to fit her description either.

"I hope all of you are ready, because it's time to enter the Great Hall!" Professor McGonagall was already back, and the doors to the feast were wide open. "Line up, and follow me!"

Daisy was shivering, even though she wasn't cold, as she walked in behind Lily with Sophia marching behind her. If the entrance Hall had been magnificent, there were no words to describe the Great hall. Four house tables were laid out perpendicular to a staff table, all under a blanket of stars above them - _was there even a ceiling? -_ and candles hovered over everyone, lighting the room to a glow of perfection. Daisy wanted to talk to Lily about it, but the silence over the room was so intense she didn't want to break it.

In the middle of all the tables, Professor Flitwick was placing a stool with a ragged old hat on top of it. No one moved.

 _Well, weren't they supposed to be sorted by this thing? Why wasn't someone telling them what to do?_ Daisy thought. And then she saw the folds of the hat turn into a mouth, and heard words flying out of it in a song.

 _...Are you afraid of what you'll hear?  
Afraid I'll speak the name you fear?  
Not Slytherin! Not Gryffindor!  
Not Hufflepuff! Not Ravenclaw!  
Don't worry, child, I know my job,  
You'll learn to laugh, if first you sob._ _ *****_

Where the sorting hat's last words.

As the rest of the students cheered, Daisy was thinking. _How comforting to think that she'd have to sob before she could laugh. Did it really mean that?_

The man who had placed the sorting hat in front in the first place was now speaking to them. "When I call your name, you will sit, and try on the house. When you have been sorted, you may join your new house family."

"Adair, Connell!" He called.

A skinny boy with spiky blonde hair ran up to try on the hat, nearly tripping over his friends cloak as he ran up. The hat fell over his whole face when he put it on, but after only a couple seconds, the hat yelled "SLYTHERIN!" and Connell ran gleefully to sit with his new house.

The process repeated with the rest of the students ahead of Daisy in name. Bates, Jasper became the first new Hufflepuff, followed by the first Gryffindor, Bell, Amelie. A couple more students went up, Benson, Rupert to Ravenclaw, Castle, Bella to Slytherin, and then it was "Dursley, Daisy"

Daisy walked quickly, knowing that if she ran she would surely fall. She sat down and placed the hat on her head.

"Hmm," said a small voice in her mind. It must be the hat, she thought. _It definitely isn't me_. "You have quite an interesting mind, dearie, so much potential, but so much _fear_ of what you can do… I think that - well maybe not. You only show your bravery when it comes to protecting... curiouser and curiouser…"

The hat's voice broke free of Daisy's head and yelled out to the whole hall, "HUFFLEPUFF!" and then went silent.

Daisy took off the hat and set it back on the stool behind her. Her new house was cheering loudly, and she couldn't see Daisy, Sophia, or any familiar face in the crowd through the haze that seemed to be covering her sight.

Daisy sat down next to Jasper, the other new Hufflepuff, and continued to watch the sorting. She caught Lily's eye finally, but Lily looked away, expressionless.

"Ellis, Gracie!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Hanson, Trevor!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

And finally "Hatman, Sophia!" Sophia looked, by far, the most confident first year so far. _She'll be Gryffindor for sure_ , thought Daisy. But Daisy was surprised, and from the look on Lily's face, she was too, when the hat crowed a loud "HUFFLEPUFF!"

When "Potter, Lily!" came along, there were a couple murmurs, but people didn't seem surprised. It seemed that they already knew that James and Albus' little sister would be arriving this year. They only wish they knew which house she would be in.

The hat only hesitated for a second before calling out the predictable choice. "GRYFFINDOR!"

And Lily joined Gracie Ellis and her brother James at the table.

And on it went. First year after first year sorted into a house. Another few that stood out to Daisy, were Wyatt Warner, who also went to Gryffindor, Hugo Weasley went to Ravenclaw, Jessamine Yates, a Slytherin, and Jonathan Clavis**, a Ravenclaw.

Finally, everyone was sorted and Daisy could get to her food. The golden plates were now empty, but it couldn't be much longer till someone brought food. After McGonagall told everyone that they were welcome at Hogwarts, she turned back to the table and everything was full!

"I don't know If I've ever seen this much food in my life!" Sophia said, taking a piece of every food she could get her hands on.

Daisy agreed as she too dug into her food.

"Lily looks kind of mad, doesn't she?" Daisy asked Sophia.

Sophia followed Daisy's eyes to the Gryffindor table. Lily was smiling, and acting cheerful, but every once in awhile, she glared towards them before taking a bite.

"I'm sure she'll get over it," Sophia said. "Don't let it get you down. We're at Hogwarts, finally, we should celebrate!"

O0o0o00o0o0o

At last, the desserts had gone and McGonagall stood to give her announcements.

"Firstly, everyone should be reminded that the forbidden forest is out of bound for anyone without special teacher permission. Quidditch trial times will be posted on your house's news board whenever your captain has set the schedule. And lastly, I must tell you that things are going to be very different this year. Many new classes have been added, a Muggle Electronics class, Muggle World History class, and Muggle Daily Life class, along with several art and music electives. Therefore, tomorrow there will be no classes. Instead, groups will be touring around the castle for new students, and around the new areas for returning students. Further instructions will be given tomorrow morning. So goodnight!"

"Come on! We have to follow our prefects to the dormitory!" Sophia was pulling her towards Jasper and the prefects. It _was_ time to go to bed. They had a big day ahead of them.

* * *

 ***Words I found on the sorting hat wiki for its song for 2019. I think it's from** _ **The Cursed Child**_ **, but I don't have a copy anymore so I can't check.**

** **JKR said that Cho married a muggle, and I used the name from LadyPotter27's story 'Cho Married a Muggle,' David Clavis. SO, yes Jonathan is Cho's son. I just really didn't feel like making up another name XD.**

 **Please leave a review!**


	14. Chapter 14: No More Hiding

**Just a short note: I don't think I've ever mentioned all the other brilliant stories about Dudley's Daughter that inspired me. My plot will be entirely different from all of those I have read, but so many 'Dudley's Daughter' stories inspired me to try it for myself. I have sent private messages to two of the authors thanking them, here they are:**

 **Dudley's Daughter by theinkwell33**

 **Dudley's Daughter by thepotterheadtwihard**

 **Unfortunately, the other stories I looked at I read before I had an account here, and I don't remember what they were called, or their authors.**

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Chapter 14

No More Hiding

Dudley Dursley had a lot to think about. Anyone in his situation would. His oldest daughter had left that day to go to a school for magic, and only an hour after they got back home, his mother, a hater of all things magical, had called saying that she and her husband would be coming around for dinner.

Thoughts were speeding around Dudley's head, running into each other, causing doubt and worry. Poppy had needed to take the stack of plates out of his hands after he absentmindedly tipped the top one forwards, and watched it shatter on the wood floor without blinking.

What would he, what _could_ he tell his parents? They surely knew that Daisy was gone. That was probably the reason they were coming by in the first place.

Dudley still hadn't thought of what he would do when the doorbell rang. Anna went down the hallway to get the door, as Dudley laid the last dishes out on the table. He could hear the cheerful exchange of greetings between Anna, Poppy, and his parents. The usual comments were said, how lovely their house looked, how much Poppy had grown, and then came the foreseeable question.

"And where's Daisy?" Dudley wasn't sure if the tone his father used was curt, but not quite angry, smug, or simply curious, although he doubted it was the latter.

"She got the train to school today," Poppy replied. Her words were smooth, and came out easily. Either Poppy was just very good at keeping calm, or she had no idea how much her grandparents had worked to keep themselves away from magic.

Even when Wizards had protected them from Lord Voldemort, or "Lord Moldywart" as his father insisted on calling him. His parents never forgave wizards for taking them away from their home. They were determined to place the blame on all magical people, not just those who had meant them harm.

* * *

 _It had been days since Dudley had seen his home, or the boy they had left behind in it. Not that it should matter to him. Dudley_ hated _the feeling of regret that kept catching up to him, no matter which way he turned._

 _The doubt had started with the dementor attack. He had started to think that everything his parents had told him about Harry, and everyone like him, might not be the true story, but a biased account of it told by people who were scared of losing their reputation._

 _And then there was the fact that Harry was kind. Although he wasn't very nice to Harry, Dudley didn't ignore his cousin as much as people seemed to think. After his gang went home on some nights, he would go spy on his cousin. Often times he would be helping a younger kid that Dudley had kicked, punched, or verbally hurt._

 _And the guilt slowly began worming into his heart._

 _Dudley had stopped leading his gang that last summer. He didn't want to hurt people anymore, not just because they were there, and not because he felt more powerful. That was not the way to gain power. He didn't want people to fear him, he wanted them to respect, and trust him. All summer, Dudley tried to perform little acts of kindness towards Harry. He'd added one more piece of bacon to Harry's plate (without anyone noticing) before it was given to him. He tried to clean up some of his old stuff that was laying around in Harry's way. He had left Harry a cup of tea outside his bedroom door one day._

 _But it wasn't enough. Maybe, one day he could forgive himself for being such a miserable excuse for a person. Maybe Harry would forgive him too, if both of them made it through the war._

 _Eventually, the driving stopped, and Dedalus Diggle and his wife led them to their new home. Their new guardians showed them around the 5- bedroom home, and gave them rules. They were not to leave the property without permission. They were protected by some sort of charm (The fiddle house charm?) while they remained on their land, but once they stepped out, You-Know-Who could find them._

 _More than a year went by, each day as dismal as the next. None of Dudley's friends could reach him, not that he had any outside of his old gang anyway, and he wasn't allowed out of the house. Every few weeks, the protectors would leave, and return with piles of books. When Dudley requested a movie, some video games, or even just a computer, they stared at him blankly, and eventually he gave up._

 _His father hated their situation more than anyone else. 'No work, nothing useful to do here. Just have to wait for some crackpot to let us out of this crazy place,' he would grumble, while browsing the latest car magazines, or watching the news on the television._

 _Petunia Dursley took on a solemn, sad appearance. She would walk around the house in the mornings, watering the flowers, and looking out the windows, as if waiting for something to happen. The rest of the day, she would either read, or write in a journal Dudley had never seen before. Sometimes, she would even join their hosts to listen to Potterwatch on the radio, apparently the only source of reliable news these days._

 _A couple times during the war, Deatheaters had seemed to know their general location. When Dudley went outside, he could see them walking through the streets, scaring the residents of the town. But no one ever left while they were there, and they were never caught._

 _On their final night in their eerily cheerful prison, both of their guardians left._

 _"You-Know-Who's attacking Hogwarts!" Dedalus said. "And Hogwarts is fighting back! Harry Potter is there, and we must succeed! This might be our only chance to defeat him!"_

 _And then it was over. The next morning, they had been set free to drive back home. A few days later, after driving around in circles for a while (they had no idea where they were, and no map or gps) they arrived at Privet Drive._

 _The house itself hadn't changed much, but the yard was overgrown, and a tree branch had fallen in the drive from a storm that had passed. Inside, was still and silent. Dust was layered on everything, and the dry brown leaves from once brilliant flowers lay in heaps on the floor. They now only served as a reminder of the past._

 _The only thing that had changed, not due to time, was Harry's cupboard. The door hung open on its hinges, and inside it, on top of Harry's old mattress, was a letter. It was the only thing Dudley had seen so far that was not covered in dust. It must have been put there recently. He reached out his hand and picked it up. The letter was addressed to him._

 _When his parents had left to begin tidying up the place, Dudley ripped the envelope open and read the letter._

 _Dear Dudley,_

 _I hope that your year in hiding wasn't completely terrible. Either way, I'm sure you're glad to be back home. Anyway, I've been thinking about last time we saw each other. You seemed - different I guess. I don't know if that means that we can ever really be friends, or even see eye-to-eye on anything, but I thought, if you want to, we can try. If you want to meet me at the coffee shop two blocks from Privet Drive next monday at 3:00, just send the owl back to me with your answer. Maybe we can arrange to see each other at least once a year. If you let the owl free without a reply, I'll understand._

 _Some experiences are just too hard to turn back from._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Harry Potter_

 _Dudley looked up to see a little owl perched on a shelf in the cupboard. It was so still, he hadn't noticed it, but when he reached to touch it, it let out a short screech, and lifted its leg. He ripped the bottom empty half of the note off, and scribbled a reply._

 _I'll be there._

 _\- Dudley_

* * *

Back in present time, the Dursleys were seated around their dining table, passing around plates of food until everyone had gotten a chance to try a bit of everything.

"So, you really did send her to _that_ school then?" Vernon Dursley asked.

"Ah, yes. We didn't really have any choice on the matter. Like I said, we don't know what trouble it would cause if she didn't learn how to control it," Dudley said, calmer than he thought he would be.

"And how do you feel about this, Poppy?" Petunia asked.

That was a good question. How come Dudley hadn't asked his daughter if she felt jealous? Poppy had seemed so happy about everything, he hadn't thought to ask her how she really felt. All these years, he suspected that his mother's hatred for magic came from the fact that she didn't get to have it herself, but when his own daughter had been put in nearly the same position, he didn't even notice. Poppy mirrored Petunia's story, and even how she had looked as a young girl, although Poppy had dark brown hair instead of blonde, and a slightly friendlier face.

Poppy looked up from her food. She grinned, and held a finger up, signaling for them to wait a minute while she finished her bite of food.

"I think it's great!" she said. "I really hope I get to go to Hogwarts when I get older." Seeing the look on her grandmother's face, she added, "but if I don't get in, it will be just as well. I'll still support Daisy. She's my sister, and I love her."

"Remember that a few years from now, Poppy," Petunia said seriously. It was clear she didn't want a repeat of what happened between herself and Lily.

The rest of the dinner went on normally, although any talk of Daisy was stopped as soon as it started. Everyone could feel the tension in the room when she was mentioned. Dudley however, was quite pleased. His mother seemed like she wouldn't treat Daisy any differently. Maybe she was even happy for the girl. His father still looked upset whenever the name came up, but he was smart enough not to start an argument, which was better than Dudley could have hoped for.

He was sure a meeting without Petunia and Poppy there would have ended in the two of them arguing about Daisy - even though there wasn't really anything to be said. She was what she was, and hopefully his father would be able to see that soon.

Maybe keeping his family together wouldn't be as hard as he thought. There was hope, that his parents could join - well maybe not join - but be accepting of the wizarding community. Did that mean he was free to join in too?

* * *

 **Review please! It's always nice to get a review notification, especially when it's from someone who's never reviewed before.**

 **There will definitely be a lot more chapters with the Dursleys in them. Did you really think Vernon would back down that easily?**

 **Cheers**

 **-Eruditegirl**


	15. Chapter 15: A Tour Through Hogwarts

A (Simple) Tour Through Hogwarts

Daisy woke up early the next morning. The unfamiliar room, full of unfamiliar people couldn't coax her into a deep sleep like her room at home could. It was only 6:30, but since breakfast didn't start until 7:30, she had plenty of time to get ready. Her earlier reluctance to go to Hogwarts was subdued by her curiosity and excitement. If only she had known more about what Hogwarts would be like before she came.

She pulled out her robes and got dressed before looking more closely at her surroundings.

The Hufflepuff dormitory was full of furniture in varying shades of yellow, and gold. The first year girls' room had five beds set facing towards the center of the circular room. Hanging vines lined the crevices in the walls, potted ferns and cacti grew on shelves, and quilts lay across the beds and chairs.

The common room was much the same, when she ventured down there. As she walked through the rounded door, hanging plants tickled the top of her head, and she noticed them draped over most of the ceiling. There were only a couple of people sitting in arm chairs, talking softly to each other, and none of them were first years, as far as she could tell.

"Daisy?" A hushed voice said from behind her.

Daisy turned, a little surprised anyone here would know her name, only to see that there was one first year sitting alone in a corner.

"Hi Jasper," she whispered back. Daisy sat down in a black armchair next to him, and they waited for the other first years.

Slowly more people joined them, quietly finding their place nearby. Everyone was wearing their long black school robes and a few people even wore hats too. Daisy even got to know the names of all the other girls in her year. Besides herself, Sophie, Regina Cattermole, Emily Macmillan, and Laura Eustace were also in her year. All of them seemed very welcoming, and there weren't any pre-made friend groups, because no one had met before the Hogwarts Express.

When Sophie, the last first year to come down, got there, the group followed a prefect through the halls to breakfast, where the other Houses had already begun gathering.

Plates of food were already laid out across the table. To Daisy, it looked like much more than they could possibly eat. Surely they didn't always get this much? Just on special days maybe? She decided on a simple breakfast, and placed two pieces of buttered toast and some scrambled eggs on her plate.

"So, how'd you like the common room? What do you think the rest of the castle will be like?" Sophie asked.

Daisy finished swallowing a bite of toast before answering. "I thought it was very… homey. It's great, really. The rest of the castle is way too big. Even after this tour, I'll probably still get lost. How could they not give tours or maps before the expansion? The castle can't have been that much smaller before."

Sophie shrugged. "Maybe they had it as some sort of test. I bet Gryffindors and Ravenclaws would think it would test your bravery or memory or something."

Although it didn't make much sense to to Daisy, she went with it. It was as good an excuse as any.

After breakfast time was over, Professor Mcgonagall pointed out their groups.

"For your tours, first years, please meet your house prefects at the head of your table. Prefects, don't forget to take attendance! Second and third years…"

Sophie was already pulling her to the head of the first year crowd to meet their house prefects near the staff table.

"Well, at least some people have some enthusiasm," the older boy said, seeing Sophie first, and then the rest of the curious, but tired, first years. The boy had a narrow face, and deep set eyes that were foreboding, but at the same time obviously held humor from the creases at the corner and the twinkle in his eyes when he spoke to them. The girl next to him had curtains of shoulder length light brown hair that curved around her face, covering much of it. It was hard to see what kind of person she might turn out to be.

"I'm Tobias Sanders, and this is Arianne Carver, we're your prefects and guides for today. Now, um, just a moment -" Daisy could see him silently counting them off to make sure they were all there. "Okay, let's go before all the other groups crowd the entrance!" He beckoned for them to follow, and as they formed a line in groups of two behind him, Arianne followed behind, herding the stragglers.

It took the group hours to make their way through the older part of Hogwarts, and by the time they were done, it was lunch time already. Most of the first years were amazed by how huge Hogwarts was, and those who came from non-magical families were astounded by its various differences. While walking through the halls, Daisy had witnessed portraits having conversations with each other, Peeves swooping by looking for someone to throw a water balloon at, a staircase she had just walked on moving, and she could have sworn she had seen a statue of armour scratch its nose, but when she looked again it was back in its original placement.

They had also met their head of house, Professor Cressida Sawyer, who taught potions. She had smiled and wished them all luck during their first week. She had also told them that she was available to talk to any of them if they needed anything.

"Now, on to the new part of the castle!" Tobias Sanders said to them cheerfully after they had finished a hurried lunch. After all this time, Daisy had still not heard Arianne say a single word, although she had seen her whisper something so a boy who kept lagging behind the group.

The first years now walked away from the lake side of the castle, to a more modern looking hallway.

"This is where you'll be taking your English, Math, and PE classes, and those of you unacquainted with the daily life of Muggles will have some of your studies here, and some in the technology building. There are also new choir and and band rooms over here," he gestured into a large room with lockers for instruments, "if any of you care to join in the music."

"And, finally, the technology building might be the best of the new additions, but to see it, we have to go out onto the grounds."

The doors to the outside were open, as different groups had to go through it throughout the day, and it was nice outside anyway. Tobias let Arianne take the lead as they headed out into the clear sunny day outside. It wasn't too far a walk to the gate at the edge of the Hogwarts grounds where Daisy thought they would be exitting, but at the last minute, their leader veered off to the left and headed towards a small door she hadn't noticed before.

All of them hustled through the door into a muggle hallway. There was no sign of any kind of magic anywhere, and there was even a security cam hanging not far from the door.

Arianne pushed open a nearby door and showed them inside. "This is the computer lab. All of you, at some point, will have to use the computers in here for one of your classes. They are also available for you to do whatever you please during the weekend, if you haven't brought your own." Arianne's voice was quiet, but unwavering as she pointed to different objects in the large room. Desks and tables were crowded into different arrangements, some clearly for groups to work with, and some for individuals working alone.

"And this," she showed them another room, "Is where any of you that have your own electronics will keep your stuff." The room that they were currently looking into looked like a combination of a gym locker room and a bank vault. There were metal storage units everywhere, with numbers and openings for keys.

"Feel free to decorate your area as you wish. Put your name on it, so it will be easier to find without counting all the numbers," Tobias added.

The other rooms in the technology building contained muggle kitchen appliances, workout equipment, televisions, and finally a large 'commons area' for all houses to sit together and hang out with their technology.

"Keep in mind that this building is only open until 7:30 for first years, as your curfew is 8:30."

They ended the day with a late dinner, after which they all got their class schedules and a map of Hogwarts, that Daisy thought was more confusing than helpful, but she took it anyway.

"Do you have English first tomorrow Daisy?" Regina, another first year asked.

"Yeah, I do. See you then?"

"Of course."

* * *

 **Sorry for the huge info dump, but I hope you liked the chapter all the same.**

 **I'd love to see some new (and old) reviewers too! It really is encouraging. What's your opinion on the new modern Hogwarts? Teachers?**


	16. Chapter 16: Materializing Friends

**Vanishing Doorways and Materializing Friends**

The following morning, Daisy and the other first year Hufflepuffs struggled to navigate the hundreds of corridors, and one-hundred-forty-two staircases of Hogwarts - even with the maps they had been given. There were several occasions when someone was sure they had found the classroom.

"I think this is it!" Sophia might say while pointing over to a door.

Regina would leap towards it excitedly, and grab the handle. The door would promptly disappear, or move to the other side of the hallway. A couple of doors they found were normal, but locked, or needed to be tickled in the right place to open up.

Jasper came up with what seemed to be a great idea of using specific portraits and suits of armour as markers of where they had already been, but they soon discovered that their markers were completely useless, because they kept getting up and moving after the herd of Hufflepuffs walked away.

Even with all the distractions, they eventually made it to all of their classes, the first of which was English, located in the newest corridor of the castle. Their first class of the week was with the Slytherin first years, which (and Daisy was displeased to find herself following the usual Slytherin prejudices) looked like the most unpleasant group she'd seen so far.

As it was a Muggle class, Daisy knew what to expect from English. Aside from the fact that everyone was wearing robes, and writing with quills and parchment instead of pencils and paper, everything was normal. Professor Ryder, a friendly talkative bloke, taught English the same way Muggles did. Or at least, he seemed to towards the end. They spent most of the class playing games to get to know each other's names.

During the games, Daisy's suspicions of the Slytherins were verified to be at least partially true. Every time Daisy spoke, she noticed a couple of them smirk. Connell Adair, and Bella Castle even had the nerve to layer their voices with disgust when saying Daisy's name - even in front of the teacher.

"Just ignore them," Sophia whispered. "You're just a target because you're Muggleborn, and related to Harry Potter, who put a couple of their parents in prison when he defeated Voldemort."

"That's really comforting," Daisy whispered back sarcastically. "It really helps to know that this isn't a temporary thing, and that I wasn't imagining it."

After charms with Professor Flitwick, which they had with the Ravenclaws, was the first class with Gryffindor: World History. Daisy was a bit nervous for this class, simply because she didn't know what to do about Lily, or if there was even anything she could do besides wait.

Luckily, there wasn't actually anything to be worried about. Lily came and sat next to her before class started.

"Hey. Look, I'm sorry if I seemed kind of mad yesterday, I just thought… that how my parents made friends was the only way to make friends. I thought that all my plans were ruined because we were in separate houses, but that isn't true. Forgive me?"

Daisy smiled. "Of course."

Lily continued to introduce them to her fellow Gryffindor first years, Wyatt Warner, and Gracie Ellis, before Professor Anthony Goldstein ushered them to sit down and gave them a pretest on how much they already knew about different historical points in time.

Following a delicious lunch, was Daisy's first potions class. Daisy had mixed feelings on how this class would go, as according to James it was 'the worst class ever taught at Hogwarts,' but Albus considered it one of his favorites. And surely it couldn't hurt that Daisy's Head of House taught the class.

Professor Sawyer held an inviting smile while waiting for all the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students to shuffle in and find seats. The potions classroom was located on a hillside, meaning that it was in the dungeon, but one side of it faced the sloping outside of the hill. Windows let in natural light and air, making it more cozy and friendly than a couple of the other dungeon rooms Daisy had peered into on the way down.

Although Professor Sawyer maintained her friendly, approachable appearance as she talked, it soon became clear that this manner was not to be confused with that of a relaxed teacher that would pass by any missbehaviour.

"Although there may not by frequent wand waving or casting of spells in this class, potions is a very advanced and dangerous magic. Students who do not pay attention may be given detention, have points taken from their house, or, worst of all, be injured because of simple, foolish mistakes! So please," She paused to glare at two Hufflepuff boys who were already whispering to each other, "Pay Attention!"

The room dropped into silence again. "Potions is one of the most important branches of magic, as potions can be used to give the drinker luck, force a person to tell the truth, or poison an enemy. A good potions grade is required to get into many careers, so I expect you all to try your hardest. Today, we'll start with making a simple cure for boils. Let's just hope that none of you will need it as the year goes on," She said sternly.

The class divided into pairs, each group working at a cauldron together to finish the instructions written in their potions books.

Daisy looked around for Sophia, but she was already at a table with Jasper. Sophia shrugged, and mouthed the word 'sorry' before turning to read from her book. Daisy, a bit nervous, turned to the rest of the room. Almost everyone was already partnered with their friends, and at first, Daisy didn't think that she could see any empty space at all. She was just about to ask Professor Sawyer if she should make a group of three, or do it by herself, when a Ravenclaw boy across the room waved at her.

She walked over and stood next to him over the cauldron. He introduced himself as Jonathan Clavis, and as people went, Daisy was glad that he was the one she had to work with. They both easily worked together to follow the instructions precisely, while still managing to keep up a conversation.

"So, how do you like classes here?" Jonathan asked her. "Are they what you expected?"

"I don't really know what I expected," Daisy hesitated before going on. Would he have a problem with her being Muggle-born? "Although I have Wizard relatives, I'm actually Muggle-born. I didn't know anything about magic until I got my letter."

"I guess it must have been a big surprise to find out members of your family knew how to use magic then! I'm a half-blood. My dad is a Muggle, but my mum is a witch, and went to Hogwarts when she was our age. I can't imagine what it would be like not living with magic."

Daisy and Jonathan continued to discuss the pros and cons of living as a muggle, and had covered a wide variety of topics by the time their potion was done.

At the end of the class, the two of them were the only pair to have completed a usable potion, even though they were also the only group to receive no help from the Potions Master. For this, they both earned five points for their respective houses.

The last class of Daisy's first day was transfiguration with the Slytherins again, taught by Professor Padma Patil, who compared to Cressida Sawyer, was no where near as strict. Professor Patil was almost like one of the students herself, stopping to chat with students as well as helping them in trying to transform a toothpick into a needle. No one succeeded that first day, but she assured them that it wasn't unusual.

o0o0o0o00

"I can't believe the first day of classes are over," Jasper yawned at dinner later that evening. Even though it was their first day, they had still been given homework, and each had finished before going to eat.

"Neither can I," Daisy said, "But we still have all new classes tomorrow.*"

Sophia groaned. "To be honest, we're only one day of school in, and I'm ready for a holiday!"

"I'm not," Daisy finally responded, as they exited the great hall. She pointed to a sign on the hall's notice board. "Flying lessons start Wednesday."

As tired as Daisy was, her excitement for the next classes (especially flying) kept her alert, so she decided to spend a few minutes to write a letter to her sister, and text Emma.

Dear Poppy,

You told me to tell you 'everything' about Hogwarts as soon as possible, so here's a summary. Sorry, but to write everything would be impractical, I'll just tell you over Christmas break in person.

So, I got sorted into Hufflepuff, which is supposed to be the house that most values loyalty and hardwork. You should get Uncle Harry to explain the rest of the houses for you, as I haven't got enough space, but I think that you would be in Gryffindor. That's where Lily and James are. Albus is in Slytherin, another likely house for you. You'd never be put in Ravenclaw (sorry), and you're loyal, but can't seem to remember the concept of hard work, so Hufflepuff may be unlikely.

My Hufflepuff friends are named Sophia and Jasper. Maybe you'll get to meet them over break too.

So far, my favorite classes are Potions and Wizarding Culture and History. Of course, quidditch is sure to be a great adventure as well. You can't get into the teams as a first year, but I've heard that team captains com to look for natural fliers while you practice, so I hope I do well.

Anyway, how is school for you? How's your pygmy puff doing? Have you finally chosen a name for it?

Love,

Daisy

0o0o0o0o0

Emma: HI!

Daisy: Hey, how was the first day of school?

Emma: It was pretty good, I guess. It's kind of strange, living in a dorm, don't you think?

Daisy: Yeah, but I think I'll get used to it.

Emma: I won't. My roommate is the most annoying git I've had the displeasure of meeting. And I've met Poppy!

Daisy: Lol, Poppy isn't that bad. Just energetic.

Emma: True. Do you have a roommate? What are they like?

Daisy: My school is set up in four houses. Each house has 2 rooms, girls and boys, for each year of school. So I share a room with all the other 1st year students in my house.

Emma: Wow, that must be a pain. How is it that I'm the one complaining?

Daisy: It's really not that bad. Also, you're pickier than I am.

Emma: So tell me about all of your new friends. Anyone I should worry about replacing me? :P

Daisy: Don't worry :). I have my cousins, of course, and then a girl and boy in my year, Sophia and Jasper. But no one will ever replace you.

Emma: Glad to hear it. I've only made one possible friend so far, a girl named Chloe. She says you've met at a summer camp?

Daisy: About two years ago? Sounds familiar, can't be sure though. Have any enemies?

Emma: Yeah, my roommate!

Daisy: XD is she really that bad?

Emma: Yes! What about you? Enemies?

Daisy: I'm not sure yet. A group from another house seems pretty unfriendly…

Emma: Well good luck with that! I've got to go. XOXO

* * *

*No, the next chapter will not go through these classes, but if you wanted to know what they are, there's: Math, Herbology, DADA, Science, and Wizarding Culture and History.

 **Yes, I am alive guys! Sorry it took so long to update, now that it's summer I should get a couple more in per month than usual (I know sometimes I didn't even get any written in a month... or a few months). Thank you all for being patient, and still reading my story. Real life issues and writers block can be a pain sometimes, am I right?**

 **About Jasper... I'm not really sure where this character came from. I originally was going to have Jonathan be the third member of Daisy's trio, and Jasper didn't even exist in my head until the sorting chapter, but now it looks as if there's going to be four friends instead of three. Jasper just sat next to Daisy the first day, and then just kind of stayed there, I guess.**

 **If I took the time to draw some of the characters, would any of you look at them? I could put them on deviant art, wattpad, or make them the temporary cover photo. Just an Idea though. Thoughts?**

 **As always, reviews, follows, and favorites are always appreciated.**


	17. Chapter 17: Catching Up

**About the next update: This is a really, really short chapter. Shorter than all of them except maybe my first few. I realize that you might be disappointed, but I hope to make up for this by posting the next chapter within a week, not a few weeks like I usually do. After that I'll be gone on a trip with no wifi/internet for a bit, so it will be another couple weeks.**

* * *

 **Catching Up**

 _Conversation between Dudley and Harry though texting._

Dudley: Daisy just texted me, she's in Hufflepuff. What is Hufflepuff?

Harry: It's a school house representing loyalty and hard work.

Dudley: Thanks

Dudley: She says the portraits at Hogwarts move. How is that possible? Do you have any at your house? How come we've never seen any?

Harry: It's possible because of… you guessed it! Magic!

Harry: And we have two houses technically. After the war I found out that there is a Potter mansion, but for a time, I lived in my Godfather's house before making it into a home for kids orphaned during the war.* Now I have one smaller family sized muggle home, and the Potter mansion, which does have moving portraits. You're welcome to come and visit this Christmas.

Dudley: That sounds very complicated. But I would love to visit. Thanks.

Dudley: Would you like to meet for coffee tomorrow?

Harry: I'd love to. Same place/time?

Dudley: Yep, see you tomorrow.

O0o0o0o0o0o

Dudley sat across the table from his cousin Harry, who was taking a sip of his tea.

"So," Harry said, setting his mug down. "What's on your mind?"

Dudley paused and took a sip of coffee as he thought about what he should mention first. He winced as the hot drink burned his tongue.

"I just wanted to… catch up a bit. We always just played board games, or watched movies with the kids, or talked about things that didn't really matter. I want to know what happened. In the war. Obviously, our side won, but how? What was it like? Why was this Lord after you in the first place?"

Harry stared at him. "Well, that certainly is a long story. Where would you like me to start? My first year at Hogwarts-"

Dudley automatically searched the small shop for anyone close enough to hear them talking about 'Hogwarts' in public.

"- or the year the war really got bad?"

"From the beginning. I want to know everything."

"Well it all started during my first trip to Diagon Alley, when Hagrid took a small package out of a Gringotts vault…"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Wow," Dudley shook his head at Harry. "That doesn't seem possible. You really defeated Voldemort again when you were eleven? How were you and this guy both still alive?"

Dudley knew that, at eleven, he would never have had the brains or bravery needed to anything of the sort. Even something like the troll would have gotten him in seconds. Scratch that, he would never have gone troll fighting for anyone!

"That is another very long story. We'll get there eventually, but it will take a lot more time to tell than we have today."

"I know that now. But, Hogwarts is safe now, isn't it. You didn't just convince me to send her to a troll-infested haunted castle with mean teachers, did you?"

"Of course not, Dudley. Voldemort and his followers are long gone, there are new teachers, and everything is good now," Harry murmured. "See you later then, Big D."

Dudley wasn't sure whether he wanted to smile or cringe at his old nickname, but he smiled at Harry, and gave a quick "see you later" as he went out the door.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Poppy Dursley sat on her bed, staring across the room at a pencil sitting on top of a dark wooden desk. It wasn't much, but this pencil would be her ticket to Hogwarts - or at least, that's what she told herself.

"I have to start somewhere," She told the purple ball of fur sitting in the windowsill.

In her mind, Poppy mentally prepared herself for what she thought magic would feel like, before starting a silent chant of every single word she knew that corresponded to levitating. _Up! Fly!_ She told the pencil in her brain. _Rise! Hover! Glide!_ As she said each word, she inched closer to the target, as if it simply couldn't hear her mental voice, and moving closer would open its ears. _Move!_ "MOVE IT!" The last words came out as a yell, as she raised an angry fist in the direction of the pencil.

The girl froze when she heard the knock at her door, suddenly realizing how crazy she must look. Her face was flushed with anger, and her dark brown hair wasn't combed, and stuck to the sweat on her forehead. Poppy let out a breath.

Her father opened the door. "Is everything ok here?" Dudley looked suspiciously around the room, glancing first at Poppy herself, who stared back with unblinking hazel eyes, and then around her furniture, from her bright green bedspread, to the blue chair, and brown desk and dresser.

"Yep, everything's fine Dad! You can go!"

"Okay then. Just let me know if you need something." Dudley retreated, pulling the door shut behind him.

Poppy got up once Dudley's footsteps faded, and picked up the pencil. "You are useless," She hissed at it, and without any thought, broke the pencil in half. She didn't realize she was crying until a salty tear made its way to the middle of her cheek, and fell between the broken pieces of the pencil.

"I don't have to give up!" She muttered. "I have y- years!**" but it was too late to stop the tears from coming, because Poppy had lost hope. She knew it would never happen. She didn't have magic. There was no point in pretending anymore.

* * *

 _*I've seen tons of fanfics where there was a Potter mansion, and a few with Harry founding some kind of place for orphans, so I wanted to incorporate that into my story a bit. I'm not sure it will be talked about again in the rest of the story, but it's still cool._

** _For anyone that doesn't remember, Poppy is only 9._

* * *

 **Hello readers! As usual, I have questions for you all, that you probably won't answer, but those of you who do answer, no, you do not need to answer every single one. I also have one announcement/comment at the end.**

 **Firstly, what do you think of Poppy. If you got to choose how the story went, would you pull for her being magical, or not? Why? Do you think she gave up too easily?**

 **Another question is the same as I had before. Should I show my art, and where should I post it? I have a blog opened that I've never used that I can post on (I'm not allowed to use most social medias) but if at least one more person is interested, I'll post some stuff. I've also considered google+ but since most people don't even know what it is, I'm not sure that's a good idea.**

 **comment: In one of the previous chapters I wrote that Daisy has light brown hair. I'm just letting you know that it's one of those shades of hair that you look at and are not sure if it's a light brown, or a dirty blonde color.**


	18. Chapter 18: Someone that Can Fly

**Someone That Can Fly**

The day leading up to the first years' first flying lesson held the greatest amount of bragging and gossip Daisy had ever heard at Hogwarts. Most kids born in magical families told tales of themselves going on wild escapades that usually included them flying near muggle planes, or doing a spectacular stunt that was signature to a national Quidditch star.

At first Daisy had believed them, and she became even more nervous about embarrassing herself in front of all the eleven year old pro Quidditch players. It was only when she talked to her friends that she realized that the tales being told were probably nothing more than that.

"I'm horrible on a broom, no matter how often I practice," Sophia told the group. I can't do more than take off without falling."

Since it was lunch time, house tables were disregarded. The only meal where you had to sit with your house was dinner, so Daisy, Sophia, Jasper, and Jonathan had joined Lily and her friends Gracie and Wyatt at the Gryffindor table. Each one, except Daisy and Jasper who both lived with muggle families, had told the real version of themselves flying.

Lily considered herself a natural (after all, with the youngest seeker in a century as a dad, and a Holyhead Harpies chaser as a mother, how could she not be? And yes, please just ignore Albus over there, he doesn't count). Lily planned to try out for Gryffindor seeker as soon as she could. However, she shot annoyed glances at people talking about running into muggle planes saying, "How does anyone believe them, obviously no muggles saw them, or it'd be all over the news! Not to mention they'd probably be in big trouble with their parents."

Gracie and Wyatt both thought of themselves as decent fliers, although probably not good enough to get on the house Quidditch team. The most they'd ever run into was a few insects.

When the time for the class finally came, all of them made their way out to the Hogwarts grounds, and joined the large mass of other first years waiting to be told what to do.

Soon, two instructors, Madam Hooch and Professor Johnson showed up, and called different groups of first years to follow them to one of Hogwart's two quidditch pitches.

"This way, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff!" Madam Hooch called. She was an older lady, with short grey hair, but her yellow eyes and harsh tone of voice showed that she was not one of those grandmothers that would happily bake you some sugar biscuits. She was in charge here.

When they got into the smaller of the two stadiums, Madam Hooch waited impatiently for all of them to position themselves next to one of the school brooms.

Daisy stood next to a broom. It looked rather ordinary to her, especially compared to those sleek and marvelously decorated ones she had seen in Diagon Alley. All the same, she could see that Lily's had twigs sticking out everywhere, and she was looking at it with distaste.

"Stick your wand hand over the broom," Madam Hooch directed the row of students, "and say 'Up!'"

Everyone did so, with different results. Lily's, although disheveled, obeyed the instruction at once. One or two others succeeded in doing the same. Most people, like Daisy, took a few tries before their broomstick flew up to meet their hand.

Sophia was one of the last few to make it. "I always just pick the broom up! No one has time to wait for me to do this," She muttered angrily.

Madam Hooch then demonstrated how to get on a broom without falling off, and how to correctly grip the handle. A few people needed assistance, but most people were able to do everything correctly within the first few minutes.

"Now, when I blow the whistle, kick off from the ground, hard," Madam Hooch said. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle - three - two - one!"

The group of students bent their knees and pushed off hard. The result was many students flying up into the air, and coming back down again. Daisy was thrilled to find that it wasn't difficult for her, although she wobbled a little bit on the way down.

"Mr. Adair! Direct your broom downward!" Daisy heard Madam Hooch yell after most of the group had landed safely. Connell Adair, a Gryffindor first year, seemed completely bewildered as to how to come back to the ground, and had flown a good 20 feet in the air, and showed no sign that he would stop rising.

"Wait here," Madam Hooch told those waiting patiently on the ground. She got on her own broom, and wasted no time in reaching Connell's height, and pulling his broom down to the ground with hers.

"Now, those of you that successfully completed that exercise may mount your brooms, and hover a few feet off the ground."

They all did so, and over the course of the lesson, a majority of the first years were able to fly in every direction without any problems. While hovering next to Lily, Daisy saw two girls in the stands. They looked nearly identical, except for their hair length, and that one of them was wearing Gryffindor robes, and one Hufflepuff.

"I didn't think people were supposed to come watch," Daisy said.

"Hmm? Oh those are the Wood twins, Margo and Eliza. They're captains of their house teams. I guess they wanted to come see if there was any natural talent to look forwards to next year."

Daisy suddenly felt more nervous than she had at the start of the class. They were looking for possible teammates already? Surely not. She went over in her head every move she had done so far. Had they been good enough to get on the team? Had she been better or worse than the other first years?

Lily laughed at Daisy's expression. "Of course, if you get better, it won't matter what they thought of you the first day. I bet even Connell could get in if he tried."

Connell promptly fell off his broom from 5 feet in the air.

"Well, maybe not Connell, but anyone else," Lily said, amused.

Just then, Madam Hooch called everyone back down to the ground, and Daisy could see the Ravenclaws and Slytherins approaching the field.

"Professor Johnson has a few words to say."

"Hello!" The younger of the two Quidditch coaches said. "This year is the first year that the rules for entering the house teams will be modified."

Daisy and her friends glanced at each other. Maybe it wasn't strange that Quidditch captains came to their first flight.

"With a parental permission form, first years may try out for their house's back up team. It's unlikely that you will ever have to play, but in extra long games, or if one of the normal players is unable to compete, we have agreed that it would be good to have backup players ready to go. Questions?"

Lily raised her hand eagerly, brown eyes gleaming with excitement. Daisy pictured her as the first to sign up to try for the seeker position. "When does this all start?" She asked when she was called on.

"Not until Quidditch season," Johnson said. "There will be notifications put up on all of the school notice boards when it is time."

"How will we get extra practice in?" a Slytherin first year called out, not bothering to raise his hand. Madam Johnson didn't seem to mind. She looked as excited, if not more so, than many of the students she was speaking to.

"On weekends, we are going to start having open practice for anyone who is not on the team, and can't go to team practices! We'll have matches between groups, and people will get to switch positions to find out what they're best at. It will be great!"

A few more people asked questions, before Madam Hooch cut in, and sent all of them off to dinner. It was a spectacular meal to end a spectacular afternoon.

That night Daisy dreamed about Quidditch. She made her house team, and stopped every single quaffle from soaring through the goalposts. But then they started using flying hedgehogs as a quaffle instead. And why had her broom turned into a flamingo?

* * *

 **:) I managed to keep my promise. How did you like this chapter?**


	19. Chapter 19: Keeping In Touch

Chapter 19

Keeping in Touch

The rest of the school week seemed to pass far too quickly according to Daisy. It was already Saturday morning, and they had passed the point of school were they received no homework. All of the first years had some from every class, and it was clear that most of them hated it.

But homework wasn't the only thing that happened. There was much more going on that made attending Hogwarts worthwhile. Every day they had their choice of delicious dishes at every meal (a big deal for Daisy), they learned extraordinary things about magic, even if there was homework, and simply being on the Hogwarts grounds was amazing.

That morning Daisy got her first owl reply. Her owl, Constellation, who she now affectionately called 'Connie' landed on the breakfast table with the dozens of other owls delivering the post.

"Oh, hello," she said, reaching out for the letter attached to the owl's leg. Daisy opened the letter and began to read.

 _Dear Daisy,_

 _I'm glad that you seem to be enjoying yourself at Hogwarts. From what I've heard, I think that I agree with one on the idea that I would be in Gryffindor._

 _Right after you left, Gran and Grandad visited. I think Gran is proud of you for going to Hogwarts, or at least she will support you. We'll have to see about Grandad though. I'm sure when he sees you in person he'll be much more willing to hear what we have to say._

 _I have named my pygmy puff! His name is now Albert._

 _Speaking of Albert, he got out of his cage the other day when I had a friend over. I told dad, and he and I took turns distracting my friend, and trying to grab Albert before she saw him. It was quite a scary situation at the time, but afterwards we both laughed about it. Mum couldn't see what was funny, though. Tell me more about your classes in your next letter!_

 _Love 3_

 _Poppy_

Daisy could almost imagine the chaos Albert had brought to the household, especially her mother, but just as she was about to wander further into her daydream, she felt a sharp poke at her wrist.

"Ow," She said unintentionally. When she looked for the culprit, it turned out to be Constellation, who had turned away again to nibble at some of Daisy's bacon. Daisy made a face. How sanitary could this be? Yet students all over the hall were feeding owls from their plates. Daisy pushed a few pieces of bacon to one side of her plate, keeping hers separate from Connie's. Choosing not to take anymore food, Daisy waited eagerly for her friends to finish.

"What's the rush?" Sophia asked. "It's the weekend, yet you're bouncing around in your seat as if we might be late to something."

"I'm just really excited," Daisy replied.

"For what?" Jasper had finally looked up from his crossword puzzle to join in the conversation.

"I don't know, but it's the weekend, so we could do anything!"

"Anything, as in homework," Sophia muttered.

"You're overreacting," Jasper said. "We don't have anywhere near the amount that the seventh years have, and they still have a bit of free time."

So, with Daisy and Jasper's persuasive skills, the three of them ended up working on their homework under an alder tree near the black lake. By midday they had finished everything except Herbology and Wizarding Culture.

"I almost wish I had taken the class about Muggle Life instead of this one just so that I could have used pencils and a notebook instead of this quill!" Sophia complained. She had just spilled some ink from her inkwell, and as none of them had learned to clean it up yet, much of the ink was wasted.

"I don't blame you. I only just started using this stuff, and I already can't see why most wizards still use quills and parchment." The three turned to see Jonathan as he sat down next to them.

"I thought you were a half blood. Don't you usually use Muggle items?" Asked Jasper.

"No, my dad likes the magical world better, even though he can't fully participate," he said. "I know everything about Muggle transportation, which happens to be our first class topic, but I don't know much about other events in the Muggle world."

At that point they were interrupted again, by the sound of splashing coming from the lake.

Two girls, a Slytherin and a Gryffindor were standing at the edge of the lake, laughing, as another girl toppled into the cold water, and tried feebly to scramble up the bank.

Where Daisy sat, you couldn't hear the smaller voice of the girl in the water, but you could hear the ones laughing at her.

"Is that the best insult you've got Perry?" yelled the girl closest to Daisy.

"Of course it is - oh look, she's finally learned to swim!" exclaimed the other girl, as 'Perry' scrambled out of the water, coughing. "Remember the time when -"

She was interrupted by Albus Potter. "Shut up Chloe, the joke stopped being funny long before Brooke actually fell into the water."

Both girls that had been laughing backed away, looking wary as if they expected an attack from their opponent. Now that Scorpius had joined him, and Albus had helped Brooke Perry onto the land, a fight would be three against one. Chloe gestured to her friend to follow her back into the castle, only turning back once to glare at Brooke, who stood shivering in her Slytherin robes.

As both groups walked away from the scene, Daisy turned back to her friends sitting next to her.

"Any idea what that was about?" Jasper asked. Everyone shook their heads. Clearly there was some history leading up to this that they would have to find out later.*

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Emma sat in a chair in her dorm room, tapping the screen of her phone. She stared at the letters she had typed, before ultimately deleting them, and going back to playing candy crush.

She'd never imagined that she and Daisy would be separated before they went to college. She hadn't the faintest idea of how to keep up a friendship in which actual personal conversation was not held. She didn't know what was going on in Daisy's life, and Daisy didn't know what was going on in hers. Looking at herself in the mirror, she realized that Daisy didn't even know that Emma had had her hair styled into a pixie cut, when it had been grown out to her shoulders before.

Emma almost jumped when her phone rang.

Daisy had also been thinking of keeping in touch with Emma. Although she couldn't say that for a while, it had been nice to have a completely different life, she wanted her best friend to be with her. Conflicted feelings about not telling Emma the truth about Hogwarts were eating away at her concentration. If only Emma had been a witch too.

Even though she didn't have any Idea what they could talk about, Daisy opened her locker door and took a deep breath in preparation for the call she was about to make.

Emma looked her phone screen. It was a facetime call from Daisy. Finally. Emma picked up the phone and pressed the answer button.

"Hi Emma!" Daisy called. She looked the same as ever, cheerful and unorganized in appearance.

"Hey!" Emma answered.

"You got a haircut," Daisy observed. "It looks good. You should add highlights." Daisy really did think the haircut was a good choice for Emma, and might even tame Daisy's own hair. But she loved having Poppy braid it too much to ever allow anyone to cut it that short.

Emma laughed, and nodded. There would never be a day when Daisy didn't care about other people's hair, even though hers was always a tangled mess, with the tips dyed a variety of colors on any given day.

"Maybe you should cut yours too, it would look good!" Emma told her. Seeing the look on Daisy's face, she guessed what she was thinking. "You wouldn't have to cut it all, You'd still be able to braid it."

"I guess," Daisy agreed. She had thought about it a couple of times, but never had gone through with it. Since she didn't have any other hair-related topics to talk about, she changed the topic. "Here, I'll introduce you to some of my friends, ok?"

Emma nodded in agreement, and watched Daisy's camera view flip, so that Emma was now looking out at some kind of common room.

"This is Sophia… and Jasper," Daisy pointed the camera at each person, and they waved. "Here's Jonathan," Jonathan didn't wave, he continued reading his book, and Daisy sighed. "Anyway, you were wondering about my cousins. Here's the youngest, Lily. She's our age."

Emma was shown another girl, with brown eyes and short red hair with bangs, that looked nothing like Daisy at all. You would never had guessed they were cousins.

Emma smiled and waved at the screen, even though she did not feel happy about meeting Daisy's 'Cousin.' As far as she was concerned, she and Daisy were _sisters_ , closer than some random relative. "So, how many cousins go to this school again?" she asks.

"Three. There's Lily and her brothers, James and Albus," replied Daisy. She had gone a little ways across the room so she wouldn't bother her friends by talking to loudly. "So, do you like your classes so far? You didn't get Mrs. Williams as a teacher, did you?" Daisy and Emma had heard about Mrs. Williams from another student a year older than them. Supposedly she was the strictest teacher ever.

"No, fortunately, I don't have any classes with her. My favorite class is still, and will always be Math."

"We'll see about that," Daisy laughed. She had no love for math herself.

"What class do you enjoy most?" Emma questioned.

"Probably Science," Daisy had decided that was her codename for Potions. "We did some interesting experiments this week. Choir and Band start next week though, so those will definitely be good." Daisy didn't actually know if she was going to participate in either of those activities, even though she loved music, but she figured if her fake school was focused on music, she'd better mention it.

"You'll have to send me a video of your performance then." Emma genuinely enjoyed seeing all of Daisy's musical accomplishments.

"Er, yeah, sure," Daisy gulped. Did Hogwarts have musical performances? Wouldn't they be in school with no electronic devices allowed? Why had she agreed?

Emma and Daisy sat, or stood in Daisy's case, in an awkward silence for a moment before someone called Daisy's name. She looked towards someone that Emma couldn't see on her screen.

"Sorry Emma, I have to go back to my room now. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye," Emma said, before the screen went black.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Walking back into the castle, Daisy was still thinking about Emma. She'd known it would be different between them when she left, but she didn't think it would be this strange. Now that she thought about it though, the relationship between Emma and herself had hung on shared experiences, which they could no longer have quite so often.

"Do you have any friends outside of Hogwarts?" She asked Sophia and Jasper who were sitting in armchairs across from her in the Hufflepuff Common Room.

Sophia shrugged. "Not really. My Muggle family always moved around a lot, so I didn't have time to get super attached to anyone. Recently, I haven't really tried to make any friends, not until I came here."

Jasper shook his head sadly. "I usually hang out with my older brother - he's not a wizard - and his friends, but I'm not that close to them."

Jonathan, however, nodded. "I have a friend, Sam Edgecombe, that I see sometimes. He'll be coming to Hogwarts next year. Just barely missed the deadline, he'll turn eleven next week. I also have a couple pen pals, because I think it's interesting to hear about different wizarding cultures."

"That's cool. How have you been keeping in touch since you came to Hogwarts?" Daisy asked directing her question just at Jonathan this time.

He looked at her strangely. "Through owl, of course. I don't have any fancy Muggle gadgets like you do."

Daisy blushed, feeling as if she'd said something rude. "And that's enough? Just writing letters is enough for you guys?"

"Isn't it for you? I saw you writing a letter to your sister this morning. It's like that. Even if it feels different, we'll still be great friends when we see each other again."

Daisy frowned. Her friendship with Emma was nothing like that. Should it have been? Either way, she was going to have to put in a lot more work if she wanted to remain friends.

* * *

 **Questions? Comments?**

 **Thanks to all the dedicated readers who follow and read each chapter!**


	20. Chapter 20: The Art of Distraction

**Chapter 20**

 **The Art of Distraction**

Poppy was at the end of a rather normal week. She had gone to school every day, did homework, went to softball practice, and talked with her numerous friends. The only small difference in her week was that Daisy wasn't there. Daisy hadn't been there for a month now, but Poppy still felt the emptiness her absence brought.

Poppy doubted that anyone, including Daisy, understood how big a change that was for her. Poppy had friends, and lots of them, being pretty popular at school, but she didn't feel that any one of them was very close like Emma and Daisy were. But she had looked up to her sister, trusted her with her secrets and feelings that most people shared not with a family member, but with an outside best friend. Without Daisy there, Poppy felt abnormally alone. She didn't have anyone to express her true feelings to, which left her feeling drained at the end of the day. She didn't want to hang out with friends as much after school, so much as stay at home. The thought that it might be this way for the rest of their lives if Poppy didn't get into Hogwarts was - well she tried not to think about it that much.

Slinking quietly through the house, Poppy attempted to get a snack from the kitchen without having to talk to either of her parents. She was unsuccessful.

"Oh, there you are Poppy," Anna Dursley said, picking a bottle of juice from the fridge. "I have an important meeting to attend in half an hour, would you clean up the wash room while I'm gone? And make sure to get any homework done."

"Yes of course mum," Poppy said with false brightness, taking a biscuit from the cupboard.

The door to their basement opened, and Dudley Dursley came out. "Where are you going?" He asked Anna.

"A meeting. Why do you look dressed to go somewhere?" She asked, her eyes landing on his polo shirt and jeans. Casual, but not what he would wear around the house on a Sunday morning.

Dudley tilted his head, and scratched behind his ear self consciously. "Er, I was just going to meet Harry. We still have a lot of catching up to do."

Both adults turned to look at Poppy. They'd never left her home by herself before, but now Daisy was gone, and Emma's sister off to college.

"If you're planning to be gone long, I'll call your mother and see if she'll come," Anna said.

"I think that would be best, thank you," replied Dudley, before exiting out the kitchen doorway and walking off down the street.

Poppy left as well, back to her room where she had been working on building a tiny castle for Albert to explore. She continued to glue together popsicle sticks, fabric, and wire together, even after her mother called up reminding her to do her chores, and telling her that Gran Petunia would arrive in twenty minutes.

Poppy was a bit annoyed that she hadn't just been left by herself, feeling that she was old enough to do so. However she was extremely thankful that it was her gran who was coming, and not Anna's stepmother, who had been lovely the first few years of Poppy's life, but turned out to be extremely strict. Once Daisy and Poppy were old enough, Nana had insisted they take lessons in music, which suited Daisy just fine, but that Poppy absolutely loathed. Since then, Nana had not given up, and had the girls perform for her on each of her visits. Now that Daisy was gone, Poppy would be performing on her own, she realized.

"Poppy?" Petunia called up the stairs.

"I'm here," Poppy called back, before coming to meet her grandmother. Petunia smiled at her as she walked down the staircase in denim shorts and a T-shirt. A braid twisted neatly from the front of her hair to a bun in the back.

"I thought we might do something outside today," Petunia said, holding the door open.

"I have chores," Poppy said.

"No matter, I'll talk to your parents."

The two Dursleys headed out, walking on the sidewalk in silence. It was quite pleasant, Poppy thought. A walk under the trees was just what she really needed. When they reached the neighborhood park, Petunia pulled out a set of watercolors and some paper.

"Let's paint."

Poppy knew then that this wasn't an ordinary walk in the park. Her Gran didn't paint. Poppy did, more often when she felt overwhelmed and wanted to be by herself. How had Petunia noticed what no one else had?

Poppy decided on painting an owl, using a tree in the park as a model for the background. She wasn't sure what her Gran was painting, it seemed to be abstract pink and green squiggles, although since she wasn't known for artistic skills, it could have been anything.

After more than an hour, they headed back home. Poppy's parents still were not there, but Petunia let Poppy get her chores done first before saying anything.

"Your Aunt Lily was an artist as well. She used to try and get me to join her, but after a few failed attempts, I gave up. I wish I hadn't," Petunia lamented.

"Hmm." Poppy leaned a little closer towards her sculpture, wiggling in her desk chair uncomfortably. She loved hearing stories about her family, and didn't really know much about Lily, but she didn't want to get a good story at the cost of Poppy herself having to share.

"We used to enjoy trying to interpret my drawings, as they were as abstract in appearance then as they are now. We would come up with the most interesting stories about what she saw in them. Sometimes, we would write them down. I'll try to find some of them, if they're still around"

Poppy couldn't manage to keep a smile hidden at this. She could picture a younger version of her grandmother sitting outside with her sister, giggling at a painting like the one she had just made.

"Just let me know if you ever need to talk, all right, Doodles? I know I'm not Daisy, but I can try."

"Thanks."

When Poppy got to her room, Constellation sat at her desk, curiously looking into Albert's cage.

"Hello, Connie," Poppy cooed. She read the letter he had brought, pulled out a piece of paper, and began to write.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

 _Daisy was high up in the air on her broomstick. Ms. Johnson had chosen her to play keeper for their first practice match, so she hovered in front of the goal posts, facing the field. She could see Connell Aidair and Bella Castle jeering at her from the ground, as they hadn't been assigned a team for this round._

 _She watched as the quaffle got passed back and forth between her teammates - a mix of all the houses, but all wearing pink jerseys for team identification. Then she saw, in seeming slow motion, the quaffle slip from the boys hands, and into one of the enemy's._

 _They were racing in her direction, and Daisy's eyes never drifted from the ball. She was going to block the goal perfectly when_ thwack _the bludger punched her, centering itself in the middle of her stomach and speeding her off her broom and into the air_ -

Daisy shook her head and continued writing the letter to Poppy, finishing the sentence with: 'and quidditch is really fun!' In real life, the bludger hadn't hit her, it had missed. It had only been a charmed dodge ball, not the real thing. Why couldn't she stop thinking about it?

She was currently sitting solidly on the ground, not on a broomstick. Her classmates sat at desks around her, the scratching of quills on parchment echoing around the room. For that English class, they had a day to work on writing assigned from other classes. The only thing was they had to write it in quill, and show Professor Ryder a sample of their writing before class was over. Daisy had already shown him her finished Transfiguration essay on switching spells, and had decided to use the last ten minutes to reply to Poppy's most recent letter.

When she was finished, she folded the paper and slipped it into an envelope to put in her book bag.

"English was actually useful today, wasn't it?" Sophia noted, as they headed to their next class. Daisy nodded, but her thoughts were on halloween. Since the first day of October, a new decoration had been spotted somewhere in the castle each day. Even as they walked now, Daisy saw a few suits of armour charmed to look like skeletons, and strings of orange maple leaves hung on the ceilings. _And of course_ , she thought, _we've already got plenty of ghosts_!

"Do people at Hogwarts dress in costumes?" She asked.

Sophie frowned. "You mean for Hallowe'en? I don't think so. I don't think I know anyone who has."

"That's too bad. My sister and I have always really enjoyed thinking up costume ideas for our cousins in America, and watching movies. Last year, we made our own costumes. Hogwarts should -" Daisy started to say what she thought they should do, but stopped when she saw someone ahead of them. "Tobias!" She called loudly. Her face flushed as a few people turned to look at her. Fortunately, one of them was the Hufflepuff prefect, Tobias Sanders.

"Did you need help with something?"

"Um, sort of," Daisy stuttered. She should have thought this out a little bit more before calling out like that. "I was thinking that our house should have some kind of Halloween party, where people can wear costumes and, and, just have fun I guess."

Tobias looked at her thoughtfully. "That's an interesting idea. I'll see what I can do about it, and get back to you sometime soon, okay," He hesitated, trying to remember her name, "Daisy?"

Daisy nodded, and they continued to find their way to charms class.

"Lucky we ran into Sanders, isn't it? Maybe we'll start a new Hogwarts tradition," Sophia said.

"' _We'll_?' I was the one who thought up the idea, and who put it into action!"

Sophia laughed. "Fine. You'll start a new tradition, with the help of Sanders, then."

They kept talking about Halloween in charms class, now joined by Jasper, who had been getting medicine for his cold during English, and Jonathan, the only Ravenclaw to bridge the gap and make close friends in other houses.

"What do you think you'll wear?" Jonathan asked.

"I don't know. I've never participated in any Halloween activities. My mother doesn't approve," answered Jasper. "She doesn't like the idea of magic. It took her forever to accept that I would be learning any. She still doesn't like it, even though she let me come."

"That's too bad. I'm sure she'll come 'round eventually. I'll be a cat, no question though," Sophia put in.

"Well, now I can't pretend to be a witch, cause I am one. Maybe I'll be someone from a muggle movie or something," Daisy told him. "I wish it could be a whole school event so that you could be there, but I guess it's probably good to start small."

"You're really determined to start that school tradition there, aren't you?" Sophia joked. She accidentally sent the feather she was trying to charm into flame because she wasn't paying attention.

Daisy turned back to her feather, about to raise her wand and say ' _wingardium leviosa_ ,' but she didn't have to her feather was already in the air! She looked at everyone near them in the room, but no one was paying attention, and when she looked back at the slim white feather, it was back on the table.

" _Wingardium leviosa_ ," Daisy whispered, without raising her wand. Nothing happened. She waved her wand in her second try, and the feather rose for a few seconds before it fell.

"At least you've gotten yours to react," muttered Jasper, and Sophia nodded in agreement. Jonathan was grinning, as his feather finally flew above his head.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

After classes, the four friends headed off to the Tech Center to hang out and finish homework.

"We've just started to learn how to use Google in Muggle Life class," Jonathan tells them. Apparently this is important to learn now, so that we can type out some of our assignments in Google Drive, or Mickysoft World."

"It's Microsoft Word, John," Sophia responds.

"And it's Jonathan, not John," Jonathan retorts, faster than anyone else could think of something to say.

The other three looked a bit startled at Jonathan's response to the nickname, but after shrugging it off, they chose a spot at computers next to Lily, Gracie, and Wyatt, who were also working on homework from the Muggle life class.

Leaving her belongings at her computer, Daisy went to take her phone out of her locker. There were a few texts from her gran, showing her pictures that she and Poppy had painted that weekend. Daisy scrolled through her texts with Emma, knowing that Emma wouldn't be there to talk to because she had gone on a field trip somewhere. Since the beginning of the school year, the two had been a bit distant, Daisy could only hope that when they saw each other in person, everything would just click into place and they would have the same connection as they had felt before.

Both of them had also gotten Instagram accounts, Daisy a bit hesitantly as she wasn't sure she was allowed to, but she didn't ask for permission. It had helped a bit, because Daisy could see a bit more about Emma's life, and Emma could see what went on in the tech center. Even so, it would be good to get back home for Christmas.

* * *

 **Thanks to those of you who stuck with me through all of my 20 chapters! I hope you keep reading.**

 **Do you celebrate Halloween? How, and what do you think you'll dress up as this year? Even though I live in the US, I've only dressed up for Halloween 4 times, as my family is not from here and doesn't celebrate (and for a while wouldn't let me do anything) I was only allowed out if my friends invited me.**

 **Please leave a review, I love hearing from people.**


	21. Chapter 21: Skeletal Warnings

**Chapter 21**

 **Skeletal Reminders**

"Just hold still one more moment," Sophia said to Daisy. She was tracing lines of eyeliner across Daisy's face, in a pattern Daisy couldn't recognize without a mirror.

Project Halloween Party had failed, but as rumors had spread, most of the first years had decided to dress up anyway.

"Are you sure we should be doing this, Sophie?" Daisy asked.

"Of course. Look," Sophia held out a hand mirror for Daisy to view her reflection in.

Daisy held the copper handle and looked into the glass. Sophia had drawn the outlines of bones all over her face, and had insisted on using makeup to make Daisy's face paler herself instead of getting an older student to do it with magic. Daisy had agreed, realizing it would make her photos to Emma even more believable.

"It looks good," Daisy said hesitantly. It truly was a good illustration, just not what she had been expecting. She continued to look at her reflection as Sophia tied both her own, and Daisy's hair up into matching buns. Both girls were wearing their normal Hogwarts robes their only decorations being Daisy's skeleton makeup, and Sophia's cat accessories.

"This is going to be great," Sophia squealed, resulting in a groan from Daisy as she followed her over-exuberant friend out of the dormitory.

Already at the Gryffindor table for breakfast were Lily and her friends, Jonathan, Hugo, and Jasper, all in costumes. Jonathan and Hugo wore bat costumes, Jasper and Gracie were in vampire costumes, Wyatt dressed up as Harry Potter, to everyone's amusement.

"You jinxed Halloween!" Lily said, laughing, "Bad stuff always happened to my dad on this day!"

Lily hadn't dressed up as anything, but had instead convinced James, to lend her the Potter family invisibility cloak. She had taken to walking around with only her head sticking out, startling everyone that had not seen someone in an invisibility cloak before.

That was the limit to the celebration for most people. But a few people, James and Fred II along with a few followers, decided to start a prank war. Unfortunately, the two fourth years were given a detention after their third prank, giving students candies that turned their ears into those of a variety of animals. Daisy spotted a girl with cat ears, a boy with ears like a hound's, two girls with mouse ears, and a boy whose ears seemed to have vanished altogether, leaving only greenish-tinged slits.

Jonathan leaned over and whispered "Fred told me they're supposed to be toad ears!" Unfortunately another fourth year girl was sporting rabbit ears, and unlike the others who had taken it in good fun, had burst into tears and then became angry! She and her friends shot glares at the boys and anyone else who dared to laugh. It was assumed that one of them had gotten the James and Fred in detention.

It was a strong reminder of family for Daisy. Although her mother was quiet, she could never refuse a good prank war, which was always lead by Poppy. Dudley and Daisy herself never got too into it, but when Poppy and Anna got the whole neighborhood involved, no one got away with never pulling a prank, or at least assisting in one, themselves.

Daisy could only laugh at the things she pictured Poppy being able to do with magic. She would have been right there in detention with Fred and James, but still smirking out of view of the teacher, pleased with what she had done. She would definitely fit in here.

Emma had always taken part in the prank wars as well, and was usually the reason Daisy was pulled in. Even though Emma didn't live on their street, she lived close enough to walk the distance between their houses, and take part in any event that was going on. Unfortunately, Emma would never see the magic of wizard pranks.

"Ready to go up to the feast?" Sophia asked, pulling Daisy out of her thoughts from home, and back into Hogwarts.

"I guess so. Want to go for a walk first, though?" She asked.

"Sure, that sounds pleasant. Will you come, Jasper?"

Jasper jerked his head up from his book of crossword puzzles, and took a few seconds before answering, "No, don't think I will. I'll meet you at the feast though."

So, Sophia and Daisy left the common room through the portrait hole, and headed up the staircase to the rest of the castle. Daisy didn't say much as they walked - she was still thinking about home - but Sophia kept a constant monologue about the Hogwarts Halloween decorations going on her own, leading Daisy up and down staircases in seemingly random directions, and occasionally doubling back and retracing her steps.

"I think they could be improved, though. What about some live spiders? I hear they have some pretty big ones in the forbidden forest. If Hagrid could just train them to be friendly it would be amazing! It would go well with the bats, and owls. Hogwarts should just have a zoo. But in a way it already is one, with the forest and - did you see that? I'm definitely sure that door wasn't there two seconds ago."

Daisy looked, expecting to see nothing out of the ordinary. She was met with her expectation - the door didn't look to be anything grand, but something about it captured Daisy's curiosity, as well as Sophia's.

They Daisy's brown eyes met Sopia's. "Should we go in?"

"Most definitely," Sophia said. Yet neither moved to open the door.

"Ladies first!" a figure whisked past them and held open the door. Somehow, Sophie and Daisy didn't question the appearance of Jonathan, but went in together, holding hands.

"Oh," Daisy sighed as the entire room came into view. It was her living room. Her family's house. It looked exactly the same, plush grey carpet, bright green rug, a fireplace… all of it made her wish for home even more.

"What is it? Why does Hogwarts randomly have a sitting room in the middle of nowhere?" Sophia asked, carelessly lifting a glass vase from a side table.

"I don't think it's just a sitting room, Sophie," Jonathan told her. He was looking at Daisy's shocked expression thoughtfully. "You recognize it, don't you?"

"Yeah. It's my house."

Sophia raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it looks like my house. Except," Daisy added, finally realizing what made the room different, "It's missing all the pictures of me and my family."

"Thank goodness it is," Sophia said. "Would be kind of creepy if the castle knew _everything_ about you."

"Let's go down to the feast," Daisy said abruptly. Somehow, even though it wasn't really her home, she felt like someone had invaded her privacy.

"But -" Sophia protested.

"-That sounds like a fantastic idea," Jonathan said, before Sophia could get anywhere with her words. "We don't want to miss all the food."

Daisy sent him a grateful look, and he nodded slightly in response.

When they arrived at the dining hall, Daisy was still in a haze that seeing that strange room had left her in, but she did her best to pay attention as Professor Mcgonagall announced some guest performers.

The real live band of skeletons did wake Daisy momentarily. Although they did little singing, the band had members that could play all of the instruments Daisy had ever hear of. They strummed a few original melodies that Daisy had never heard, but then took a few requests from students, resulting in a wild mix of songs from the magical world, those from the muggle world, recent, and old. Laughing, and singing to the songs she knew, humming to the ones she didn't, Daisy joined in. The skeletons were funny too - they performed a few skits as other skeletons played music. They got to see skeleton dramas to a love song, and scary stories where skeletal limbs were removed and then reattached when scary songs played.

Daisy still couldn't fully enjoy the food afterward, even though her favorite pastries and tarts were out for the taking. She didn't take part in conversation like usual, but thought about what she could be doing if she hadn't been forced to go to Hogwarts between gaps in conversation. Not that Hogwarts was a bad place - it was brilliant - but it wasn't home. The homey enclosure of the Hufflepuff common room wasn't the same as a place with her true family.

The only thing that managed to capture her attention during the meal, was Jonathan, who sat just behind Daisy at the Ravenclaw table. At one point he leaned back, his dark hair sweeping across his face as he did so, and tapped on her shoulder.

"I think I know what that room was," He said. When Daisy didn't respond, but turned to face him, he went on. "There's a room here that turns into whatever a person wishes for. It's called the room of requirement. I guess you were wishing to be at home, then?"

Daisy nodded.

Jonathan smiled sympathetically, "Sorry. I guess you wouldn't have really had a choice in coming here since you are muggleborn. I didn't think about that."

Daisy shrugged. It was an unavoidable truth. She enjoyed being at Hogwarts, but it would never be home to her.

To: asilentwhisper*

From: mylifesprotagonist 

Subject: Our plan for the future

Sent: October 29

Here it is, like I told you. Don't talk about our plans except through this email. It isn't safe, and that's why I haven't mentioned anything since summer. Don't use your school email account. I'm not sure how much of that information is tracked by the school. I am very sorry for the delay, but I'm still not sure how to continue. Ideas?

To: mylifesprotagonist 

From: asilentwhisper 

Subject: Re: Our plan for the future

Sent: October 30

I don't see what all the secrecy is about. We haven't done anything wrong, and I was under the assumption that whatever our plan becomes, it will be legal. Hope you haven't changed your mind. No, I don't have any ideas about continuing. You're supposed to be the brains in this, get to it.

Justabird . org?* Really? Couldn't you make it more official sounding? We're not kids.

Love, 'a silent whisper'

To: asilentwhisper 

From: mylifesprotagonist 

Subject: Re: Our plan for the future

Sent: October 31

Just because I'm supposed to be 'the brains' doesn't mean I won't need help from you. We are related, so I'm assuming you have at least a tiny bit of intelligence. I don't see what the downside to illegal would be as long as we keep everything humane, and the plan succeeds. If it makes you feel better, I won't make you do anything you don't feel comfortable with.

The website name is irrelevant, and if anyone does see it, they won't suspect a thing. As for your 'we're not kids' statement, I suppose it's true to a point. You're definitely not an adult you little fourth year.

Cheers. My next correspondance should have some instructions for you.

To: mylifesprotagonist

From: jem1 

Subject: History Project

Sent: October 31st

There's been a major breakthrough on the topic and I think I can get us more than a good grade. I've found something spectacular, you see, or at least I think you have. Maybe you would like to come with me to confirm? We'll be famous for sure for this discovery, and it's all thanks to your idea. Let me know when you want to meet with me.

What's with the new email though? Just curious. It would be easier to talk in person or by owl - this whole computer thing is really confusing. Contact me as soon as possible.

-Jonas

* * *

*These are fake email adresses, but the site doesn't allow the at symbol, so I just left it as the first part. They were all at justabird . org.

 **Sorry It's been so long guys! How many of you did something exciting for Halloween? I didn't do much. Sat on my couch and watched Coraline while doing some homework.**

 **...BUT I also published this chapter, so that was cool.**

 **I might end up going back and fixing some things in this chapter, but I don't think it will be enough for you to have to re-read, just some minor details. I just had to get this up on Halloween, even if a lot of my story followers are out celebrating, not reading.**

 **Happy Halloween!**


	22. Chapter 22: Illusion of a Castle

Chapter 22

After the Halloween feast, things quickly settled back into normalcy. Daisy went to class each day, afterwards heading to the Tech Center's common room or Owlery to work and send messages to her family and friends.

Emma had been pleased to see Daisy's Halloween costume even more so than Poppy. Her parents and Gran Petunia had been mostly indifferent to the occasion, but smiled and nodded when they saw how much it meant to her. Vernon Dursley still hadn't contacted Daisy in any way, and Daisy felt an anxious twist in the pit of her stomach every time she remembered she would have to see him over Christmas break.

Just after things calmed down, however, students anxious for a distraction from their studies turned to Quidditch. The first match, Slytherin against Gryffindor created excitement as the beginning of November grew near.

As they had been told at the beginning of Flying Lessons, first years had been chosen for backup teams, earning resentful glares from older students who had also tried out. Daisy, after receiving permission from her dad through a permission form sent by her Head of House, tried out for Hufflepuff's extra keeper. She almost bounced with glee when she was called onto the pitch, as she had been unsure if either of her parents would approve.

The tryout had been in game form. The rest of the spares had already been chosen, and Margo Wood, Hufflepuff team captain, as well as the rest of the Hufflepuff team watched as Daisy blocked shot after shot from a serious-faced third year and his fellow chasers. As soon as any keeper trying out had failed to block three shots, they ceded to the next contestant. The person with the most saves won, assuming they were willing to prioritize Quidditch over other things. Daisy successfully blocked the most throws, and landed herself in the backup keeper spot for the Hufflepuff Team.

"Extremely good job, Daisy," Margo had told her when the game was finished. "I didn't expect to actually accept any of the first years, but I got you as keeper and Regina as seeker! Eliza's going to be so jealous." Margo directed Daisy to talk to Accalon Applebee, a friendly, square-faced seventh-year boy who was the actual Hufflepuff keeper, and now her trainer during practice on Sundays.

As well as the good excitement, fights regularly broke out between Gryffindor and Slytherin students. Among the first years, nothing more than taunts occurred, but to them, it felt like a full-blown fight. Bella Castle had quickly switched gears from teasing Daisy about being muggleborn, to sneering at Lily, who had failed to become backup for the Gryffindor team - while Bella herself had made it into a chaser position.

"It would seem that the famous Potter girl isn't keeping up with the legend," Said Bella during one Transfiguration lesson. "I wonder how you inherited such a small amount of talent. The Gryffindor team wouldn't take you over anyone - even if that mud- that muggleborn cousin of yours had been in your house. How pitiful."

"And the Slytherin team only let you in 'cause they're so bad that someone as bad as you is better than the whole team!" Lily retorted back.

Daisy was a bit taken aback when she thought about this later. It did bother her a bit that Lily never stood up for their kinship, but it bothered her even more that Daisy herself did agree with Castle to a point. Lily held herself on a pedestal because she had famous parents. It wouldn't be bad for her to realize that she couldn't depend on that connection every once in awhile.

When she had mentioned the events to Sophia, who had not been near enough to listen in on the conversation, the only thing she caught onto was what Castle had said.

"That imbecile, how dare she! I'd bet all my chocolate frog cards that she isn't even pureblood!"

"She isn't," A voice said from behind them. It was Albus Potter who had spoken, walking with Scorpius. "The old pureblood lines have almost died out though. The Castles, however, consider themselves to be the next round of pureblood families, simply because I they haven't been able to trace back their family to a muggle member for generations more than the average wizard. That's why Chloe Castle and her sister in your year are so stuck up."

"Speaking of the Castles, there they are," said Scorpius, pointing to the Great Hall Entrance. Six students stood, four of which sported some sort of injury or charm. One boy Daisy recognized as one of Gryffindor's chasers lay petrified on the floor, while a girl opposite him whimpered, cradling her arm which had sprouted squid-like tentacles.

Chloe Castle stood over her sister, uttering a countercurse, when someone's yell of anger crashed through the halls, making everyone nearby flinch.

"How could you - how _dare_ you - just, why the _hell_ was this necessary! Castle! You were probably the provoker, am I right?" Daisy hadn't yet recognized the speaker, a Gryffindor girl with short brown hair. "Nevermind, it doesn't matter. The fault lies with every one of you that cast a spell. If I were a prefect, I would take points from _all_ of you," She looked pointedly at those from her own house, letting them know that they were not omitted from this statement. It was then than Daisy felt extremely lucky to have met the calmer twin first, because Eliza Wood, Gryffindor Fourth year, and Quidditch captain, was a foreboding figure.

"Someone help me get these three up to the hospital wing," she asked the growing crowd of bystanders. A couple of people stepped forward and supported the three students as a path was cleared to the staircase. In their place stood the headmistress, slim and commanding, an older version of the Eliza they had just seen.

The group of bystanders, including Daisy, Sophia, and Jonathan, dispersed, heading to their house tables as Albus stayed behind to tell Professor McGonagall what had happened.

0o0o0o0o0o0

The day of the most anticipated quidditch match of the season was still and dreary, with temperatures not expected to rise more than fifteen degrees above freezing. For Daisy, it was all excitement as she followed the rest of the school down to the quidditch pitch and took a seat in the stands with the other Hufflepuffs.

"On such a freezing day, we just had to be high up in the air, didn't we," Sophie grumbled. "Should be a good game though. I brought binoculars - here, take a look."

Daisy took the binoculars from her friend, and looked down at the field where the Gryffindors and Slytherins were approaching Madam Hooch where she stood in the middle of the field. After she said a few words, Eliza Wood shook the hand of the Slytherin captain and both teams took flight.

Most team members, Sophia pointed out, flew on Nimbus 2000's, which was the model of all of the school brooms, but the Slytherin seeker had a Golden Arrow, one of the top models of the day.

A Hufflepuff fifth year was doing the commentary - as Daisy had found out, the commentator had to be from a house not participating in the match, or Fred Weasley would have taken a turn.

"Aaand the game begins!" Bernard yelled into the magical megaphone. "Quaffle quickly snagged by Slytherin chaser, Brooke Perry, and she's passing to Charleston - Ooh, and she missed, quaffle taken by Gryffindor's chaser Spinnet, and he's almost halfway across the field now - narrow miss there from McLaggen's bludger, looks like he's improved from last year, Spinnet shoots - GRYFFINDOR SCORES!"

There was an enormous roar from the Gryffindor end of the pitch. Banners raised higher, and some people were chanting.

About two hours into the game, Slytherin lead by ten points. Daisy got up. "I have to go to the loo," she said politely to her friends, inching her way between the people seated in their row. A set of temporary toilets had been set up on the grounds so that watchers would not have to reenter the castle. On her way back, she accidentally ran into a couple of ravenclaw students. Daisy blushed. "Sorry," she muttered.

"It's fine," said the girl. She and the boy she was walking with were both older students heading back into the castle. Probably weren't interested in quidditch when it wasn't their house playing.

When she arrived back in her seat, Daisy saw that the score wasn't any better for Gryffindor. Slytherin was 20 points ahead now, and Eliza had called for a few minutes to talk to her team. She paced back and forth, furiously trying to inspire her team to a win.

And that's exactly what happened. In only five minutes after the break, the Gryffindor seeker waved the snitch in the air and triumphantly hugged her teammates on the ground. She and James were whooping joyfully and waving at the crowds.

"That'll be you someday," Sophia joked, knowing that such a loud yell was unlikely to come from Daisy.

Daisy just laughed and left the stands to join in the celebration.

0o0o0o0o0oo0o0

Dudley Dursley sat in the park only a short walking distance from his house. Where he was, it was a bit chilly, but not too windy or dark to enjoy being outside.

 _Crack_. Harry walked out from behind a tree, straightening his jacket, and, well, _trying_ to flatten his hair. "Afternoon, Dudley," Harry said.

"Afternoon," Dudley replied. This would be the third time he and his cousin had met to chat, and for Dudley to learn about everything he had missed in Harry's childhood. "Before you start year three, tell me more about Quidditch." He had signed Daisy's permission form after asking Ginny, who had been extremely excited that Daisy had wanted to join. However, his only basis for how dangerous it could be was the game played at the Weasleys, when he hadn't really thought about the safety of the game.

"As you now know, I played through most of my years at Hogwarts," Said Harry.

"Most?" Asked Dudley.

"One year there was no Quidditch, you'll learn about that later. But I think it's alright. It's dangerous, but injuries are usually things that can be fixed overnight with magic."

"Sprained wrist?"

"Madam Pomfrey would fix it in five minutes."

"Broken bones?"

"Still only an hour or so."

Dudley nodded. Although it wasn't the safest sport, no one had to face extreme consequences for long in the wizarding world. "Onto year three, then. This is the year you came back telling us you had a godfather, wasn't it?"

"Yes, although it took some time to figure that out. After all, he was a fugitive," Harry nodded.

"That part I don't understand," said Dudley

"Ah, well, due to an arrangement of circumstances he was given no trial, no time to tell anyone that he was in fact innocent."

"And that's why you never went to live with him."

Harry nodded.

Dudley listened as Harry went on to describe his year. Knowing ahead of time that Black never intended to hurt Harry made it extremely interesting - as Dudley could not, however hard he tried, figure out why the man was so determined to make it to Hogwarts.

Hearing about the Marauder's Map, he asked about it. "Do you still have it?"

"No, I gave it to Albus, as the invisibility cloak went to James," Said Harry, breaking from his story.

"And you think it's ok that they're probably sneaking around the castle with that?"

Harry grinned. "Not really. I'd be more concerned if they were closer friends, but neither one of them has both the cloak and the map at the same time. And, as you've seen, if they go searching for a mystery, I'm sure they'll find a small one, and when they do, they'll be able to keep safe."

When Harry got to the part where he had overheard that Black had been the cause of the death of his parents as well as Peter Pettigrew, Dudley's bewilderment deepened. How could a man be framed so perfectly?

As Harry's words drew a picture of him and Hermione following Ron under the whomping willow, Dudley's eyes widened, but he said nothing. Listening to Harry's stories was amazing, like reading a fairy tale about a hero, or a novel about an amazing child detective. Dudley didn't want to miss a single word, especially when it involved time travel, and a mysterious Patronus-casting figure that should appear in only a moment.

* * *

 **Haven't gotten many reviews recently - I'd love to know what you're thinking.**


	23. Chapter 23: The Blame

Chapter 23: The Blame

After months of being at Hogwarts, the realization that she would soon be leaving the place seemed almost like a dream to Daisy. The rest of November and early December had passed so quickly, especially with the addition of regular Quidditch practice.

The first match Hufflepuff had was against Ravenclaw, and was rather uneventful. Daisy had gotten front-row seats since she was a backup player, but none of backup was needed for that game. Hufflepuff had won, but not by much. The keepers on both teams had let in few goals, and at the end of the match, both teams had only scored twice each, the winner being determined only by the catching of the snitch.

Every Quidditch enthusiast knew that Hufflepuff had the longest losing streak - not having won the cup for nearly a century. But this year, tension was high, because Gryffindor and Hufflepuff seemed almost on even ground - both were captained by one of the Wood twins who were well known for Quidditch skill. For the first time in forever, the most anticipated game wasn't the "inevitable" final between Gryffindor and Slytherin - but a final between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.

Fortunately, Daisy wouldn't have to worry about this until she returned to Hogwarts after her Christmas Holiday, which was only a day away.

With only one evening left until the train ride home, Daisy had given herself a task to do. Over the past month, she and Jonathan had asked older students about the Room of Requirement, and gathered that the only way to summon it was to ask for a specific need while you walk past it three times. Students could ask the room "I need a toilet" or "I need a place to hide my stuff" or, most famously, "I need a place that no Voldemort supporters can get into."

Daisy had done something similar. She had wished to be back at home, but not in words so much as a picture. She had felt a feeling of longing while imagining the cozy rooms of her family's house. This is why, Daisy guessed, the room had been so specific in her case. This was the best explanation she and Jonathan had come up with. Sophie's wanderings had taken them past the wall three times, and from there, the room had sensed Daisy's need for encouragement, and delivered.*

This is the theory they went to test on their last evening at Hogwarts. They had left Sophia and Jasper behind - Daisy thought Sophia was bound to say something that was unintentionally insensitive, and Jasper had been spending his most of his time with Hugo recently anyway.

"You should start thinking about it now," Daisy told Jonathan.

Jonathan's eyes glazed over as he focused as much as he could on a room in his house that he missed. A few times, he nearly ran into other passing students or suits of armour, and Daisy had to redirect him so that he passed the wall three times. Sure enough, a door appeared.

Daisy pulled the door open. "You first!"

Jonathan walked in silently, and Daisy followed. The room they entered was evidently a sitting room. The walls were painted a pale green, and windows on two opposite sides of the room appeared to show a forested area outside.

After looking through these apparent windows, Daisy turned to Jonathan. Her friend was sitting on one of the grey couches, staring into the empty fireplace.

"So it worked?"

"It seems so," said Jonathan. "Everything I can remember is here. Either the castle just likes us, or people should have been visualising what they want instead of giving vague questions. Except in the cases where they didn't know what they were looking for, which now that I think about it, is how most people find this place. When they are looking for a room that they can't visualize. We need to come back here after the holiday."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Vernon Dursley had made up his mind. It had taken months to do so - but he had finally done it. If his granddaughter had joined those magical oddities, she didn't deserve his affections anymore. For the sake of the family, Vernon wasn't planning on treating her harshly. He would simply - ignore her, to put it simply. He would encourage his wife to do so as well, and suggest to Dudley ways of keeping Poppy out of this nonsense since he refused to try to get rid of the magic.

Waiting for his son to arrive, Vernon continued to think about this. He had been genuinely pleased meeting Anna - she seemed so normal. But how could any of these horrifying traits slipped into his own family? It must have come from her side. So when Petunia went to open the door, he comforted himself with this. There was nothing he could have done. It was _her_ fault.

"Welcome! Yes, come in quickly now, its cold out," Petunia said as she ushered in her family members.

Poppy came bounding into the sitting room, and was quick to give her grandfather a hug. She couldn't have magic, thought Vernon. She wasn't anything like Harry had been - like the nuisance of a boy probably still was.

Once everyone's coats had been put away and everyone settled in, Vernon got out a Cluedo board for Poppy and Daisy to use while the adults talked at the table.

"Poppy and Daisy are still getting along well then, are they?" Petunia asked her Dudley and Anna.

"Of course," answered Anna. "It's almost as if nothing has changed. The girls still talk about their life with each other as they used to - it's just that Daisy has different things to talk about now."

Vernon found himself getting tense as he watched Anna's normal demeanor. The girl gestured and spoke as if she really couldn't see any issue with this - and Petunia was following along! Suddenly Anna's appearance didn't seem so friendly. The sparkling pin in her blonde hair looked suspiciously magical. Was there, perhaps, a wand hidden in her purse?

"And are you so certain that the girls should be talking to each other so - so _warmly_? Poppy should be separated from her sister so that she doesn't acquire any of the same qualities!" Vernon said.

He was startled at the severe expressions he received from his family members.

"I have already told you that we intend to support Daisy in her magic - and that includes Poppy's support. It would be a cruel punishment for _both_ of them to restrict their time together more than it has already been restricted," Dudley told his father. His voice started low, almost at a growl, before he seemed to regain control and finish cordially.

It was then that the phone rang. Petunia went to retrieve it while the rest of the company sat in silence, Dudley and Vernon having a frozen staring contest, daring each other to speak, while Anna picked at a piece of lint on her blouse.

Petunia returned and said, "Marge couldn't make it, dear, why don't we go ahead and eat now? It's only a few minutes earlier than planned, and I'm sure everyone is hungry."

"That sounds like a lovely idea, Petunia," Anna said. The two women headed towards the dining table, already chatting like old friends - as they usually did. The only difference was that this time, Vernon did not approve. Petunia had clearly been brainwashed by Anna and Daisy - she refused to think her grandchild could do any wrong, that's why she no longer hated magic.

For the most part, the beginning of the meal went well. The topic of magic was avoided completely, and Vernon received plenty of time to talk about how the new manager of the drill company still came to him for advice daily, even though Vernon had stepped down to a less time consuming position.

But then the inevitable topic of school came up. Poppy went on for a while about her friends and favorite classes, or more accurately, how difficult it was to pick favorites when she loved every bit of it. Then, they had to go on to Daisy. Everyone else seemed even more interested to hear about Daisy's favorite class, potions, and how she had perfected the hover charm this semester, while Vernon's frustration grew.

The truth was he was afraid of the magic. He didn't like how it seemed to be taking control of his family. All of the beliefs they had supported just disappeared all for one child! "Enough!" he finally yelled. His fists clenched around the silverware still in his hands, and he could feel his face burning. "This is not acceptable! You will not do or support magic, or you will _not_ be part of this family!"

A moment of silence reigned over them before Vernon got to see just how much his son had taken after him in temper. Dudley's face was almost as purple as his father's, and when he stood, he stood taller.

"And if you refuse to accept the change your family is going through, you won't have a family to disown! We'll all have disowned you!"

"That's it!" Vernon fumed. "Get out. Everyone who wants to be a part of this nonsense, leave, and don't come back until you've seen sense!"

Petunia was the first to rise, heading towards the closet to get everyone's coat. Vernon spotted Poppy slipping her piece of cake into a napkin to finish later as she took her coat. Anna's face had closed of all emotion as she walked towards the exit. Daisy looked embarrassed, or even ashamed of herself. Vernon smiled smugly as his son and family left - they would be back soon with a better attitude, and an understanding of the evils of magic. His smirk vanished when Petunia closed the door - and she was on the outside of it.

"See you again when _you've_ seen sense, Vernon."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Emma Taylor wasn't one to easily become jealous, but she had to admit to herself that this is how she now felt. She knew Daisy had to be back for Holiday now, but she hadn't yet called to talk about where and when they would meet. Before the two of them had gone to different schools, such things hadn't needed to be discussed, except around school breaks, when family might be visiting.

So, Emma decided to treat the time as a normal week. She would just turn up at the door, and one of Daisy's parents would let her in. At her arrival, Emma pushed her bike into the backyard as she always did, but she paused on her way back to the front. Through the window she could see Daisy. She was sitting in a circle with three other kids and appeared to be playing a card game.** Poppy, though not part of the game, was also in attendance, braiding another girl's hair.

They did have visitors. That settled Emma's anxiousness slightly, but the visitors were obviously the cousins that had caused all of this mess in the first place. Emma took a step closer to the window before ducking down as a thin face she recognized as Daisy's grandmother gazed out.

As she could do no more spying, she decided to knock. She was greeted at the door by Dudley Dursley.

"Hello, Mr. Dursley! I just came to see Daisy, if it's not a bad time," she told him.

Dudley looked a little bit surprised to see her, but smiled. "We do have some visitors, but I'll go see what everyone is up to. I'm sure It will be alright if you join us." Dudley closed the door, leaving only a sliver open so that he wasn't completely closing Emma out. A minute or two later, he came back and let Emma in.

In the sitting room Daisy's parents sat with her grandmother, and another couple that must have been cousins. Emma still couldn't see any resemblance, but she now knew that Daisy's cousin got her red hair from her mother, who was probably not related to the Dursleys. Dudley told her where to find Daisy, although Emma already knew from her peek through the window. She nodded appreciatively to both Dudley, and Anna who had complimented her on her hair.

"Emma!" Daisy exclaimed, rushing to give her friend a hug.

"Daisy!" The red-haired girl cried out. The cards for their game had been knocked out of the way by Daisy's foot as she walked by. The girl scowled, and proceeded to clean up.

"Sorry, Lily," She said. "We'll start a new round, and Emma can join. Emma, this is Lily, Albus, and James Potter, my cousins."

Lilly dealt out the cards, maintaining a silence of irritation, even after James told her to cheer up, it was Christmas, and neither Emma nor Daisy had done any harm. In return, Emma paid no attention to the other girl.

Before starting the game, Emma decided to dive into conversation, as she knew that however close she and Daisy were, Daisy would avoid starting a group conversation. She needed to know a little bit more about these mysterious cousins.

"So James," she said, "I remember that your sister goes to school with Daisy, and I think I remember that you and Albus do to. What instrument do you play?"

James seemed to suddenly grow interest in his remaining cards and took a moment to answer. "Yeah, we do go to the same school. I play clarinet, and Albus here plays the violin." James ran a hand through his messy hair and grinned at his brother who glared straight back.

"Yes, I _love_ playing my violin, James, but don't give me that look," Albus said, his tone of voice hinting at sarcasm. He turned to Lily and said, "Why don't you say something Lils?"

Lily had stopped scowling, but still kept her face fairly neutral instead of smiling with the others. "I play piano and alto saxophone," she tells Emma. "In fact," She handed her cards to Poppy, "I think I'll go do that now." She pulled out the Dursley's keyboard and began to play a complicated tune that Emma didn't recognize.

The rest of the group went back to their game. Emma didn't really feel guilty about being glad that Lily wouldn't be playing anymore, as she brought down the cheerful mood of the holidays, and seemed to be a bit of a show off anyway.

000

Dudley stepped back from the doorway where he had stood watching the kids. It truly had been impressive, seeing everyone transform the room from magical to mundane. It didn't seem like Emma could possibly notice anything unusual, except for Lily's bad mood. At least Lily had an excellent cover for going to Daisy's school, having actually taken piano lessons.

Dudley sighed, and relaxed. "That was a close one. I'm glad that Mum saw her through the window, or we might not have had enough time to clear up! The warning definitely gave us an extra minute or so."

Petunia nodded in agreement, while Harry replied. "No problem. As an Auror I've had to muggle-proof scenes quickly before." In the little amount of time they had had, Harry had transfigured their Magical games into their Muggle equivalents, and summoned all wands to himself. Now, he had already hidden away his own wand, and was proceeding to stash all the kids wands in an extended pocket.

Dudley took a seat next to his mother. He never would have described Petunia Dursley as an easily frightened person, but here in a room with Harry Potter, the boy who she had lived with, and admittedly mistreated for all of his childhood, she looked quite queasy. Harry himself hadn't shown any signs that he might still hate his aunt for what she had done, but Ginny had looked like she might pounce when they were first introduced.

Anna had fixed that issue by pulling Ginny aside into the kitchen with her, but Dudley still didn't know how to fix the terrible silence between the three adults still in the sitting room. Although it wouldn't be easy, he hoped that his mother would be able to become part of the family, as he was trying to do.

* * *

*Although it's not known if the room still works after the fire, I decided that it does in my story. Such a wonderful magical character - and I do think the room is almost like a character of its own - would just be a tragedy to lose.

**I thought about writing the chapter in Harry's point of view, just so I could show you all Harry swapping out their exploding snap cards for regular snap cards, a wizard chess set for a muggle one, and changing the music station to muggle music, and hiding Poppy's pygmy puff when he heard Emma was coming in. And all the kids wands would be summoned from their pockets, to their protest. I decided against this, but I thought I'd share with everyone because I think it's funny to imagine.

Also, sorry to end it at this place, but the chapter needed to end somewhere. What do you guys think of the Vernon/Petunia situation?


	24. Chapter 24: Disappearances

Chapter 24: Disappearances

To: Jem1

From: mylifesprotagonist

I need to meet you at the doorway tomorrow, we have a lot of research to do. I tried to ask you when you were getting of the train, but I couldn't catch you on your own. See you tomorrow at lunch?

-MC

To: mylifesprotagonist

From: Jem1

Of course, I was hoping to talk to you too. How are we going to reveal this surprise? This is an amazing discovery. We could probably get a ton of house points from all of the teachers - and we'd be set in terms of grades. Not to mention we'd be doing everyone a favor. I can't wait to hear your reveal Ideas. I don't think I'll be able to resist telling someone for much longer. Also, what do you mean by research? I thought we were done. The project is over, there's nothing left to do, is there?

-Jonas

To: Jem1

From: mylifesprotagonist

There's always more to learn my friend. I'll explain it to you when we meet, I promise. We'll have a lot of time to talk. Don't worry about the reveal, we'll talk about that too.

-MC

To: mylifesprotagonist

From: asilentwhisper

Again, using your unnecessary fake email to talk to you when I just saw you yesterday. What's your plan with Jonas? You can't keep him in the dark much longer. I'm not sure he'll agree with what we're doing. I'm not sure I agree with what we're doing, even though I'm a central part of it. Just, please don't do anything too bad. Checked on the subject though, he seems to be okay, although not happy.

Love you.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Daisy had not been expecting to be relieved to be back at Hogwarts. After being homesick for so long, why would she be? But even after most of her family had expressed their support, Daisy knew that things would never be the same, all because of her. Her grandmother had gone to retrieve some of her belongings from her shared house with Vernon Dursley, who had convinced her to stay - although Petunia still ended up spending most nights away from home in order to spend time with Poppy and Daisy.

Before, she had truly wanted Poppy to be able to join her at Hogwarts, but now she wasn't so sure. Would it be better for Poppy to be separated from her family and muggle friends, or her one sister in the magical world?

It seemed like Jonathan had the best of both worlds. His family all knew and were okay with his magic. He hadn't had many muggle friends to begin with, having been homeschooled most of his life before Hogwarts. His best friend would be arriving only the next year. In response to questions about break, he had an enthusiastic answer.

"We went skiing! It was great, I'd never been before. I was pretty good at it too, I think. I was better than my mum, at least," He said. "What'd you do, Sophie?"

"Nothing as great as that. I just relaxed with my, uh, siblings I guess. Daisy?"

Daisy explained how she had spent part of her time at her grandparents', part of her time at home, part of her time at a friend's house (Emma's house), and the last day at the Potter's House. Here Lily would have interjected to talk about her vacation, but the morning math class only included first years from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

"And what about Jasper?," Daisy asked, swivelling around in her seat to search for him.

"Back table, get back to your studies!" Professor Finch scolded.

Daisy ducked down and started to try and focus on finding the area of the box, but looked at her friends for an answer.

"He's with Hugo, over there," Jonathan said, jerking his head to his left. "They met up over break, and it seems like they're really good friends now."

"Oh," murmured Daisy, remembering how Jasper had seemed to gradually fade into the distance the past semester. It made sense.

"Did you three manage to get anything done during class?" Mr. Finch asked sternly. It was only by luck he hadn't already passed by their table. A student on the opposite side of the room had been brought to tears by frustration, and he had spent most of the practice part of the class helping her.

"I'm finished," Sophia told him, handing him her paper. "A bit time consuming, but it wasn't too difficult."

Jonathan followed suit and turned in his paper, but Daisy requested time to complete it as homework. Math wasn't a strength of hers, and she hadn't exactly been focusing on her work during this particular class.

On the way out she tripped over another student's foot.

"Sorry," Daisy yelped. When she looked up she realized it was the same Ravenclaw students she had run into at one of the quidditch matches. A rather short girl with brown hair, and a slim boy with dark hair, both appearing to be sixth or seventh year. This time, they seemed to be in a heated argument, and hadn't even noticed Daisy as she bent over to pick up her dropped math homework.

"I told you before, Jonas, I just want a little bit more time! Isn't it kind of fun knowing something no one else does?" The girl said.

"Not really, not when we've known for so long. It's time to share! It's a great discovery. If you don't tell someone this week, I will, with or without you, Mal," growled the boy.

Daisy scampered off to catch up with Sophia. Whatever was going on with them, it didn't relate to her.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"And they really didn't seem to notice me!" whispered Daisy. "They just kept on talking, I mean - Merlin's beard, were they blind?"

The girls giggled at Daisy's short tale. Everyone was back in the dorm now, and the first year girls of Hufflepuff house had decided to have a sleepover. That is, to have some fun and talk as a group before they went to bed.

It had been Regina's idea to push all the beds together. The girls had soon found that the beds weren't moveable, although whether they were magically held in place, or if they were just to heavy for five first years to move was unknown. In the end, they had pulled four of the mattresses off of the beds, and now sat in a close circle together on the floor. Golden pillows were thrown across the mattresses, leaving no one sure which way they were supposed to lay down, but no seemed to care.

"What do you think they were talking about?" Sophia asked.

"Probably hidden treasure," said Emily sarcastically. The oldest of the girls, having been twelve since October, had her face buried in one of the pillows, and kept saying she was trying to sleep. But Emily never failed to say something when the conversation got interesting.

"Maybe there's actually two giant squid, and nobody's seen both except them. Or maybe, they found a crumple-horned snorkack," suggested Laura.

"Laura, nobody even knows if that creature exists," Sophia told her.

"Exactly. Maybe they found proof."

Everyone laughed, even Laura. None of the other girls were entirely sure Laura believed the stuff she told them, only that she lived near the Scamanders' place, and they certainly did.

Daisy took the opportunity to change the subject. She hadn't thought that anyone would actually take interest in her story - she had meant for only Sophia to hear, but when she noticed the others listening, she had added a lot more drama than there had actually been. She couldn't help feeling a little guilty about sharing this information that wasn't hers.

"I heard you went to the Christmas Dance, Regina," Daisy said. The other girls turned to look at Regina, who smiled. The Christmas Dance was an unofficial school dance held every Christmas Holiday in the Great Hall. The event was student organized, but given permission once students had pointed out that not everyone would ever get the chance to go to the official Yule Ball which was only held during the Triwizard Tournament. You had to be a fourth year or above to go, unless you were invited by someone eligible. First years rarely got the chance.

"Yeah, my brother invited me after his date had to go home for the Holidays," Regina told them. She showed them a picture of her in brilliant green dress robes, apparently inherited from an 'Aunt Maisie'*, and holding the arm of an older boy that looked like he could be her brother. "It was fun," she said, "But there weren't any other first years I knew."

From there the conversation went to who everyone would have wanted to go to the dance with (the prefect Tobias was a popular option) to what kind of magical creature they would all like to meet (a tie between nifflers and unicorns). Eventually the conversation slowed, and everyone fell asleep.

0o0o0o0oo00o0o0o0o0oo0o0

"You look tired," Jonathan told Sophia and Daisy at breakfast the next morning. The girls shared a look before Sophia answered.

"Yeah, I suppose we didn't get as much sleep as we should have."

"You definitely didn't," Jonathan snickered. "Sophie has nearly run into at least three people since entering the Great Hall, and Daisy, did you even try to brush your hair? There's a piece of paper tied up in it."

Daisy blushed as he reached over to pull something out of her hair, but was quickly distracted by someone else. Margo Wood was rushing around the Hufflepuff table with an anxious look on her face.

"Margo!" Daisy waved. Her voice wasn't loud, but the older girl heard her and came over. She looked just as untidy as Daisy did. Her brown hair, usually braided down to her waist, hung loosely around her, and it looked as if some of the jam from her toast had gotten caught in it. "What's wrong?" Daisy asked.

"I can't find Eliza," she said. "You haven't happened to see her, have you? She was supposed to meet with me last night before curfew, but she never turned up, and I can't find her now either!"

Daisy frowned. "Sorry, I haven't seen her." Jonathan and Sophia shook their heads as well when they were asked.

"Thanks anyway." Margo dashed away from them and was joined by Albus and a few of Eliza's Gryffindor friends.

"Well, I hope there's a good explanation for this," Daisy told her friends. None of them knew Eliza or Margo particularly well, but the disappearance of a student was concerning.

Unfortunately, it did look like something had gone wrong. The news that Eliza was missing spread through the school faster than any normal rumor, and soon another one joined it. A seventh year Ravenclaw boy, Jonas, had also gone missing. At first some people seemed to be under the impression that they had just run off somewhere, but they would be fine, and were surely together, but as the day passed on and neither one made an appearance, that seemed less and less likely. There was also the fact that no one could remember ever seeing the two together - they might not even have known each other.

Coming out of her last class for the day, Daisy was surprised to see all of the students heading in the same direction.

"What do you thinks going on?" one of the other first years asked.

One of the Slytherin prefects turned up and started to shepherd them in the direction of the crowd. "No one knows, but we're all supposed to go to the Great Hall for an announcement."

When they arrived in the Hall, everyone was required to sit at their House table, like they were at dinners. Daisy found herself squished into a seat between Sophia and Jasper, just like old times. Except no one was chattering and laughing. People all around them spoke in whispers, and even the older students seemed to be confused.

"If I could have your attention please!" Professor McGonagall stood at the head table looking stern-faced and confident, but Daisy thought she could see a hint of worry in her face. "As many of you have heard, two students went missing sometime yesterday evening."

Daisy looked down the table at Margo who had her head down trying to hide her puffy eyes from the glances.

"We do not believe that any of you are in danger," McGonagall continued, " But we'd like to get this cleared up as soon as possible. The best way to do this is to search the castle, without the intervention of students. We have already had the heads of houses check the dormitories for the students, so at the end of this speech, if prefects would please lead their Houses to their common rooms. In the meantime, students should remember that on ordinary evenings they are not to wander the grounds without teacher permission! Going into the Forbidden Forest is as it has always been - forbidden. If this whole event turns out to have been an orchestrated stunt, or a result of rule breaking, punishment will follow. Innocent pranks are -" McGonagall inhaled, searching for a word, "tolerable, but bringing the whole school into the matter is not. But rest assured, if there truly is a danger to any of you, we will take care of it immediately. Dinner will be served in the common rooms, thank you for cooperating!"

The Headmistress had to yell the last words, as students were already getting up to leave. The silence instilled at the beginning had disappeared and been replaced with nervous chatter. Some people were downright terrified - Daisy walked past a first-year Slytherin who was practically shaking in fear. Others looked irritated or bored, such as th Castle sisters. Daisy spotted Chloe complaining about missing choir practice and dragging Bella behind her. Most people just tried to act normally, but were betrayed by wary expressions or nervous laughter.

When the bubble of Hufflepuff students reached the entrance to their common room, there appeared to be a hold up, and at first Daisy was worried that something else had happened. As they slowly approached the door, however, they could see that it was just Professor Sawyer, their head of house, taking attendance as students went past her. The middle-aged witch looked seriously at each student, seeming to look for signs that anything was out of the ordinary, and apparently was failing to find any.

After passing through the entrance, Daisy was surprised at what she saw. All of the common room's normal tables and chairs had been pushed to the sides of the rooms, and students everywhere were bringing in pillows and blankets from their dorm rooms.

"What - what is this?" She whispered, too softly for anyone to hear her over all of the other voices. Daisy watched as the room was transformed into a massive bedroom with room for everyone to sleep. She maneuvered her way over to where the rest of the first years had put their stuff, and lay down next to Sophia.

"It's amazing, isn't it?"

Daisy knew exactly what she meant. In the midst of what some people would consider scary, members of the Hufflepuff house had managed to make the most of it, creating a room where fun was expected, not fear. Even Arianne Carver, who had looked incredibly distressed at the news that people were missing was joining in. Daisy spotted her laughing as she passed out pillows with Tobias. Daisy felt her worry slip away for the most part as she listened to stories older students told to them as they sat doing their homework before nightfall. It was Hogwarts after all, what could go wrong in a place as magical as this one?

* * *

 ***Daughter of Mary and Reginald Cattermole from DH. Maisie isn't actually her aunt, as the ages wouldn't match up, but she is a cousin.**

 **Hello! If you liked that chapter, please do write a review, I love hearing your thoughts and predictions!**

 **To people that do this, I'm so sorry I'm ridiculously lazy about getting back to people. Not sure if any of you have the app, but I can't seem to send messages on it to anyone that doesn't also have the app, and I just never go open up the website in my browser. So here's a few short replies to people who reviewed previous chapters.**

 **JayBat: Thank you for your approval :). Petunia/Dudley/Harry reconciliations are some of my favorite too, there's just so much potential in those relationships. Emma becoming friends with a Potter or Weasley has definitely passed my mind a few times, though I'm not sure that would happen in Daisy's first year. Who knows though, you might just get your Albus/Emma friendship!**

 **Moxie333: It would be interesting if Dudley played a sort of 'JK Rowling' and wrote everything down, but he never seemed the 'lets sit down and write a book' type to me. I can definitely picture him retelling the stories though.**

 **lucybredeson: Aww thanks! I always love fanfiction that I just can't put down, and I'm glad you felt this way about my story! Unfortunately, I don't have immediate plans for bringing the Potter boys more into the story, but I'll definitely think about your request.**

 **Lisa Cooper: I really do appreciate your feedback. You're one of my most consistent reviewers, and always have good information on what you liked and didn't like, which is great!**

 **And to the guests that reviewed: Thank you so much! Although I can't reply to you directly, I see you there and your comments are just as much encouragement. One of you asked if there would be a mystery to solve, and I hope this chapter answered that question for you. To RS who suggested Hermione teach muggle studies, thanks for your input! I don't think I will have Hermione in this position, but I appreciate the suggestion.**


	25. Chapter 25: Reparo

Chapter 25: Reparo

Minerva McGonagall sat slumped at her desk. She was exhausted. She'd had no sleep that night, and to no avail. No missing students had been found. In only half an hour, she would need to address her staff, and she still had no reasonable theories on where Eliza Wood and Jonas Kreifels had disappeared to. Thoughts about the disappearances floated around her head as she let out her hair and began to repin it.

The student's parents would be informed - if they had not been already. The owls would reach their homes by midday at the latest. The task of writing the letters had gone to their heads of houses. Minerva could admit to herself that she felt guilty about giving them that task. She remembered sending a letter to the Grangers when their daughter had been petrified. That had been difficult enough - and the Grangers didn't even know what being petrified meant. Minerva had found it easier than she had thought she would to tell them that it wouldn't be a problem. Their daughter was receiving the best care, and would be perfectly fine in a couple of months. The Grangers hadn't had a reason to worry too much. But both wizarding families involved this time would know what was going on. She fully expected anxious letters from all of the parents, and possibly an angry Oliver Wood barging into her office.

Both missing students were top of their class, and not known for making trouble. Miss Wood had a bit of a temper, but she always reigned it in before it could get out of hand. She wasn't unlike Minerva herself, back when she had been a student so many years ago. Mr. Kreifels didn't even have that - he didn't get mad _or_ play pranks. He was very much the stereotypical swot. Very knowledgeable, but a bit awkward.

Neither seemed likely to run away for any reason. Neither of them seemed likely to disobey rules by going, for instance, into the forbidden forest and getting lost. But Minerva clung to these reasons, because the only other possibility that came to mind was capture.

But who would want to kidnap Hogwarts students? Prejudice against muggleborns was at its lowest point in history, and those targeted hadn't been muggle born anyway. The students weren't in the same House, so it wouldn't be segregated that way. The students weren't in the same age range, classes, friend groups, quidditch teams, school clubs, or anything Minerva could think of. And if students were captured randomly, would it happen again? Or was this the end?

Her thoughts flickered to the Chamber of Secrets. They knew where it was located now, so surely no one would go to the effort of sneaking around that place, even if they had been able to hide their parseltongue abilities. All the same, she made a mental note to herself to send an owl to the Auror Office. Harry could be sent down to check the abandoned chamber.

Hair now pinned with precision under her hat, Minerva strode out of her office and headed towards the Staffroom where the other school teachers waited.

In more recent years, the staff room had been expanded to accommodate the growing amount of staff Hogwarts needed. It now housed a large sitting area and well equipped snack bar, as requested by many of the younger teachers. What they needed more food for after Hogwarts meals was beyond Minerva's understanding. A cup of tea was all she ever needed.

This morning, every one of the upholstered chairs and couches seated a Hogwarts Professor, to the confusion of the many Hogwarts cats that often sought refuge there. The low hum of worried voices filled the room when Minerva entered. She only had to cough to get their attention. "Does anyone have any news to report?" She asked them. Heads shook across the room. Her heart sank. There went the last chance that everything could just go back to normal.

"Then we must keep searching," She told them. "They can't have gone far. In the meantime, you are to keep strict attendance in all of your classes. After all classes are over, students are to stay in their common rooms unless accompanied by a teacher. There are enough of us that we can arrange for teachers to circle around the school every hour to take students to the library or tech center if they need resources for homework. All quidditch practices must be supervised. But we must remain calm and collected. I'll arrange search groups, and call in any extra help if needed." She thought of the aurors. Qualified ministry fighters parading around her school… would they help, or just cause more fear?

Minerva dismissed most of the teachers for breakfast, only stopping Professors Sawyer and Flitwick to make a request. "Would you send Margaret Wood and Malia Carver up to my office when you see them? I need to ask them some questions."

The two teachers nodded, and headed towards the great hall. Minerva looked back at the staffroom. Cats were taking advantage of the now emptied seats, while only a few staff members lingered behind to chat. It looked like any normal morning.

She headed straight towards her office after making a brief speech at breakfast, explaining the new rules to the students. She expected that Miss Wood and Miss Carver would be up shortly, and she wanted to be prepared when they got there.

Margaret "Margo" Wood arrived first. The girl was normally one of the more organized students, and the fact that her sister was missing hadn't changed that. If Minerva hadn't looked as closely as she had, she could have missed the puffy red eyes of someone who'd shed a few tears in the past hour.

"Miss Wood, I know this must be hard for you, but is there anything, anything at all you can tell me that might help find your sister?"

Margo shook her head. "I don't think so. We were supposed to meet in the library before we went to bed. We study there sometimes. It's quiet, and we don't get as much time as we'd like to talk since we don't share a house common room, or very many classes."

McGonagall nodded. "She never made an appearance then?"

"If she did enter the library, I certainly didn't see her, or I wouldn't have even noticed she was missing the next morning. She's not a morning person, and it's not unusual for her to come late to breakfast."

"Thank you Miss Wood. If anything else comes to mind, please let a teacher know."

Margo dipped her head and made towards the exit. She pushed open the door, nearly running into Minerva's next student. Malia Carver was not unlike Margo Wood. She was generally a good student, although not as popular as either of the Wood twins. She had been prefect in previous years, but had not been selected to be head girl this year in favor of her Gryffindor counterpart.

"Miss Carver," McGonagall began, waving the student in. "I was told that you were the last one to see Jonas Kreifels before he disappeared. Is this correct?"

"I think so, Professor. We have a History of Magic assignment together - we worked on it for about an hour in the library, and then I left. He said he'd be back in the common room in about in hour, but he never turned up."

"And you don't have any idea where he could have gone?"

Malia shook her head. "We weren't really that close. We worked together on projects occasionally, but I didn't really know that much about him."

Minerva nodded and dismissed the student. She would have to check with a few other students, ones that were close with Mr. Kreifels if possible. Right now, however, she had some letters to send.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The next day's classes were a relief to Daisy. Her favorite classes, Potions and Charms, were a great pick-me-up, even if the former was accompanied by the Slytherins. After hours in the dungeons, enjoying the class, but loathing the teasing she received from Bella Castle, she was excited to head down the charms corridor to her classroom

Professor Flitwick stood on his desk watching the students and taking attendance as they filed in and took their seats in rows of ten on either side of the room.

"Quill out! We'll be taking a few notes before we start the practical side of class today," He told them.

Daisy took her seat next to Jonathan and Sophia, and brought out her quill, ink, and parchment. She had learned that when teachers say 'quill,' 'pen,' or 'pencil' you should use that specific tool - for in the case that you had to turn in your work, using the proper utensil would contribute extra points to your grade.

"This week, we will be focusing on mending charms." Flitwick pointed at a broken mug to the side of the desk. "Can anyone tell me what incantation I could use to mend this cup?"

When no one moved to raise their hand, Flitwick shook his head disappointedly. "Surely at least one of you has done their reading for this chapter? Ah, yes, Mr. Weasley, go ahead."

" _Reparo_?" Hugo Weasley guessed.

"Indeed it is! Five points to Ravenclaw," Professor Flitwick beamed. "Now, unlike many of the other charms we have studied, the repairing charm doesn't end disastrously if you mispronounce it. Re-pair-oh or re-pah-roh will work just fine. The strength and use of the spell has more to do with the caster's ability to focus on what must result from the charm. But as always, the wand motion is important as well."

Here he paused for the students to catch up on their writing. "Practice with me, without wands!" The entire class raised their empty hand and waved as if they held their wand, all while chanting " _reparo_."

"Very good, now let's see you try it."

The students went up to the desk to retrieve one of the broken objects set out for them - items such as broken picture frames or rulers that had been snapped in half. Daisy set hers down in front of her and began practicing. She mimicked the required wand motion easily, uttered " _reparo_ " and the ruler mended itself instantly.

"How did you do that so easily?" Sophia protested, jabbing at her picture frame. "Here, switch with me." She grabbed Daisy's measuring stick, and snapped it in half along the line where it had just been repaired. Although Daisy had gotten it on the first try, the spell had still left evidence that the object had been broken in the past.

" _Reparo_ ," Sophia said.

"Stop poking your wand at it, that's not going to work," Jonathan told her.

"You can't tell me what to do, yours hasn't mended either," she told him. When he wasn't looking, though, she took his advice, and practiced until she figured out the correct wand movement.

By the end of the class, everyone had at least partially fixed their object, even Sophia.

Later that evening, Daisy sat in the Hufflepuff common room alone. She was finished with her homework, as were most others in her house. The only other people in the room were fifth and seventh years getting in some extra studying for their exams, and none of them were looking in her direction.

Daisy had convinced Sophia to go to their dormitory without her so that she could work on her charms alone. She was going to test a theory she had. Back when their class had been learning how to levitate objects, she had once gotten a feather to rise up without waving her wand. Could she do something like that again?

She pulled a regular Muggle pencil out of her backpack and snapped it in two before setting it on the ground in front of her. Daisy focused on the word she was going to say, and on what the pencil was going to look like when she had finished saying it.

" _Reparo_."

The pencil was whole once more. A hand picked it up.

"That was impressive," the other girl said.

Daisy looked up at the Hufflepuff prefect.

"I'm Arianne, if you don't remember. You're Daisy, right?" She asked. "Or was it another flower?"

"No, Daisy's correct." Daisy moved to make space on the couch for the other girl, who then sat down.

"So, has anyone else seen you do magic like this? Without a wand, I mean."

Daisy shook her head nervously.

Arianne raised her eyebrows. "You should really talk to a teacher about it." Seeing Daisy's look of anxiety, she added on to that statement. "The teachers are really nice, and I bet they'd be impressed with this. They would probably give you extra help on perfecting this skill - it's pretty rare to be able to do magic without a wand, especially at your age and without years of training. I would talk to Flitwick, since it's charms you're working on, but if you're more comfortable with talking to our head of house, Sawyer's pretty nice too."

"Thanks, I think I'll take that advice," Daisy smiled.

"Great!" Arianne replied, seeming to be pleased with Daisy's comment. "Are you done with the rest of your homework? I could help you practice, if you want."

Daisy agreed, and the two girls went to work, trying each of the first year charms, but without wands. Arianne never got any of them to work, but Daisy's charms had an effect nearly half of the time, although they weren't as strong as the spells she cast with a wand.

"Good try. I think that should be the last one for the night. Don't you?" Arianne said finally.

Daisy watched as the other girl yawned, and then stifled a yawn herself. "Yeah, I suppose so. Thanks for the help."

The two girls headed towards their dorms, and disappeared from each other's view. But not before sharing a brief smile. Even though they hadn't really spoken before that day, that night seemed to have started some kind of friendship between them, even if it was only a friendship build on sharing a secret for a brief time. Daisy had learned that, although she was soft-spoken and secretive, Arianne was a fun person to be around, and Arianne seemed to think the same of Daisy.

* * *

 **Completely forgot about giving this chapter a name until a couple of minutes before publishing XD. I hope you liked the chapter though! I'd love to hear some responses. I think it's one of my more put together ones, or at least I feel like I started writing it with a much clearer idea of what I wanted than I usually do. I've also already written 1000 words on the next chapter, so maybe I'll try to get that one up early (as in less than a month).**

 **Also, I've almost reached 70 reviews! Thank you so much! When I started writing this I never thought I'd get as many reads as I do.**

 **To guest: Thank you so much! I do try :) If you're still out there *waves* I'd love to see the fanfiction you've written.**


	26. Chapter 26: A Plan

**Chapter 26**

 **A Plan**

The girl usually wasn't one for breaking school rules, but recently, it had become almost normal for her. The new curfew meant going to her dormitory when there were hours of light left in the day. Since she had perfected a disillusionment charm, she'd been freed from the confines of ordinary hours and been able to go where she wished when she wished, for the most part. It had been easy to check in to her common room, and then slip out, invisible to all eyes but her own, as someone else opened the entrance.

Now it was actually time to go to sleep. She hadn't been able to sleep as much as she should have for days now, and she'd caught herself dozing off and yawning too many times in the past half hour. And there she was doing it again. She had turned another corner without care. She could still be heard - and evidently had been heard, or else, how did he know she was there?

Albus Potter stood in the corridor holding a piece of parchment. His green eyes seemed to look right past her charm to see her standing in her robes in front of him.

"What are you doing out so late, Malia?" he asked her. A breath seemed to catch in her throat as Malia inhaled. How could he know it was her? What else had he been able to find out without her knowing? She drew her wand from her left pocket, and held it for a moment.

"Do you know something about where students are disappearing to -"

And then the stunning spell hit Albus in the chest without warning. His eyes widened at the last second - realization dawning across his face, before he crashed to the floor. Funny, that he hadn't thought to put up a shield beforehand. A few well-placed compliments went so far in creating fake friendships. Not that it was something she enjoyed doing - but the ends justify the means, don't they?

Malia rushed over to cast a disillusionment charm on him as well, but when she bent over, she realized she wouldn't have to. He hadn't heard her coming. Albus Potter probably hadn't even known a thing about her project. He'd simply seen Malia walking behind him on this ever-so-convenient map.

She scooped it up in her hand and watched the teachers' dots wander around. No one was patrolling this area of the castle at the moment - and when they did, there would be no reason for them to suspect a thing had gone on in that first-floor corridor. Albus Potter would be gone.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Will you need anyone else to go sir?" the messenger asked him.

Harry shook his head. "No, everyone who I would need to help me has already been informed. Besides, it's probably nothing too formidable."

The girl nodded nervously. She was one of several young auror recruits that couldn't seem to get over the fact that he was _the_ famous Harry Potter.

Harry passed her in the hall, and continued to think about the letter he had received from the Hogwarts Headmistress the previous day. Two Hogwarts students had gone missing, seemingly with no warning. Contradictory to what he had told the young auror-in-training, he was extremely worried about it. Nothing suspicious like this had happened at Hogwarts since Voldemort's demise, and although he knew it couldn't be that particular dark wizard, that didn't mean that this threat would be any less of a problem.

Since they hadn't had any big problems in crime recently, he guessed that whatever was going on was student related. If this was so, the young dark-lord-in-training could be stopped and prevented before they did anything catastrophic.

Harry exited the Ministry and turned on his heel, before experiencing the brief discomfort that came with apparition. He reappeared right outside the Hogwarts gates, where McGonagall herself was waiting for him.

"Mr. Potter, thank you for coming," McGonagall said. She had a grave expression on her face, one he didn't think he had seen since the war - although her face when Harry had told her of James' and Fred's pranks before they had gone to Hogwarts had been close.

"Of course. Nothing is more important than student safety, I hope I can help you. Shall I go straight to check the Chamber of Secrets then?" Harry responded as he walked into the Hogwarts grounds.

"That is our next planned step, yes, but there's something else."

Harry tipped his head, waiting for her to go on.

"Another student is gone - possibly not connected, since they were last seen quite recently, but with recent activities…" she trailed off.

"You think it's connected. Who else knows about this disappearance? Have you contacted friends or family?" Asked Harry. He wanted to ask so many other questions, but he waited for a response first.

"That's what I'm doing right now, Harry," McGonagall's voice was lowered in an even more somber tone. "It's Albus, Harry. Albus hasn't been seen anywhere for at least an hour"

Harry's heart sank. The comfort of being back at his old school seemed to fade away. The vibrant greens of the grass and trees faded to grey. He couldn't seem to find happiness in the birds' chirps anymore - only a warning. _It's only been an hour_ , he told himself. _If you were still in school, it would be just like you to sneak away to try and save people yourself, that's what he's probably doing. But what if he had found something - something that he couldn't get himself out of?_

"Your other children are waiting in your office. We can send them back to their common rooms, but I thought you might want to talk to them first."

Harry nodded, but didn't say anything until they were in the castle, but then he cleared his throat. He couldn't let emotions get in the way of him doing his job. "Have you found any connection between the three, then?"

McGonagall shook her head. "Not much. Miss Wood was in the same year as your son. It doesn't look like they were good friends, but it wouldn't have been odd to see the three of them - Albus and the two Wood twins that is - talking together about quidditch before a game. There is no connection whatsoever with the other missing student, who was a seventh year

The brief conversation that followed, told Harry everything McGonagall knew about the disappearances. This topic carried them up to the stone gargoyle outside the Headmistress' office, without mention of the name 'Albus.'

"Calico," She said, and the gargoyle moved aside to let them in. Before, Harry would have spent a few moments amused at the password. When McGonagall had first become Headmistress, her passwords had stayed names of previous headmasters. Then they had switched to candies, like they were in Dumbledore's day, and most recently, all of the passwords had been cat related. But with recent events, it didn't quite cheer Harry as it used to.

"Dad!" Lily tackled her dad in a hug that, had Lily been a bit bigger, could have knocked the wind out of him. "Can we help? I want to be a hero, like you were!"

Harry looked down into her brown eyes sadly. Lily, out of his three children, seemed least able to grasp how dangerous his childhood had been. He wasn't blind to her longing for adventure. Unlike Harry, her reasons for wanting that adventure seemed to be farther away from a "saving people thing," and closer to a "being famous" thing. She had the hardest time living under his shadow, and would do anything to earn her fame by her own merits instead of his.

"Sorry Lily. This mystery is for adults only to get involved with. You don't need to be apart of it." _And I don't want to see you get hurt_ , he almost added, but he realized that saying such a thing aloud would only make her angry.

"But you went after the Philosopher's Stone when you were only my age!" Lily argued.

Harry tried not to blame her for not understanding, but he couldn't help the feeling of irritation growing stronger. He guessed from Lily's expression of frustration that his own anger had not gone unnoticed. "I only went after the Stone because there were no adults already dealing with the situation."

"But -"

"Believe me, if I could have been sure that they were, I would never have felt like I had to do it myself!" Harry continued, and when Lily looked like she was going to say something else, he added, "That's _enough_ Lily! I don't want to hear any more of this."

Harry changed his focus to James, ignoring Lily's attempt to continue the argument. His eldest son still sat in a chair in front of the desk, examining his fingernails.

"James?" Harry whispered.

"Dad?" James questioned sarcastically.

"It's not your fault, you know."

"I know. But, I just feel like I should have noticed… I feel like I should have noticed if something odd was going on with him."

Harry nodded. "I think you would have, James. I don't think this had anything to do with Albus. He was just randomly picked. And hey, it's only been an hour. It mightn't be anything to worry about." This was not entirely true. What were the chances that the son of Harry Potter would be disappear randomly? It wasn't impossible, but it was low enough to cause some concern.

"Do you two have anything else to tell me?" Harry asked.

The two shook their heads.

"Alright then, we'll walk you to Gryffindor Tower then. Stick together when you can, and when you can't, be sure to stay with someone. So far, the attacker only goes for lone students."

After dropping his kids off safely with Professor Longbottom, Harry met McGonagall in the second floor girl's bathroom.

The bathroom had been refurbished since Harry had last been in there. It looked much the same, but bathroom stalls had been replaced with newer ones, that looked both cleaner and undamaged by the watermarks left by Myrtle's many bathroom floodings. The only things left untouched were the sinks.

"We've set spells to trigger if the sink or any of the pipes move," McGonagall told Harry. "So far, nothing's been triggered, and I'm the only one that can remove the enchantments." The headmistress took a few steps close to the pipes and did just that.

"Ooh, I've been trying to get to those for ages!" a voice from above wails.

Harry looked up to see Moaning Myrtle swooping down from the ceiling, looking as unchanged as always.

"Myrtle, I am going to need you to refrain from flooding the bathroom while the enchantments are gone. I've had quite enough of that, and it's quite nice to have this as a functional bathroom," pronounced Mcgonagall.

The ghost seemed to retreat a little. Apparently her usual enthusiasm to talk about anything dreary was held back by either McGonagall's position as headmistress, or her glare that all students feared. Either way, the ghost made no further interruption as Harry leaned next to the sink, looking for the snake.

Once he found it he called in parseltongue for the entrance to open. Harry's parseltongue was a bit rough and didn't come out as smoothly as it had in his school years, but it did the trick. After the part of Voldemort inside him had died, Harry had found himself unable to speak the old language instinctively. But if he paid close attention, he could still understand the snakes, and from that, he had re-learned much of the snake language.*

"Well," Harry said, looking into the pipe that had opened. "Here goes nothing."

He stepped in and slid down the pipe, and could hear McGonagall behind him. He wasn't sure if she had ever been down into the chamber herself. He and Ron had been called in once before to open the chamber when Hogwarts was reopening after the battle, but Harry couldn't recall seeing the professor there. During their visit, members of the Department for the Regulation of Magical Creatures, the Auror Office, and several St. Mungos workers had looked around the place to ensure safety and search for the unknown. Much of the grime and bones in the corridor had been cleared up, and the remains of the basilisk had been taken various places for study.

Before walking further into the chamber, Harry raised his wand. Although they'd still have to search the chamber for anything suspicious, casting _homenum revelio_ would save them the surprise of running into anyone unexpectedly. The spell revealed that no one else was present. A sweep through using any other spells Harry and McGonagall could think of, plus looking into any suspect nook or cranny gave nothing away.

"Well, they're not here, that's for sure," Harry said into the cavern. Hearing only the sounds of water dripping in a corner and the skidding of his own feet as a response, he turned around.

The headmistress had also finished searching her area of the room, and was now gazing upwards at the towering pillars and snake carvings around every corner. She shook her head, as if disregarding something she had thought before walking with Harry towards the exit.

Back at the staff room, quite a few aurors and teachers waited for the results of that search. Harry was drawn to look towards the faces he knew the best - Ron and Neville stood next to each other to one side of the room.

"Well, there's some good news, and some bad news," he said, looking at his friends. He felt as if sharing this experience with them would give him more strength, somehow, since they had been through similar things in their own time at Hogwarts. "The Chamber of Secrets has not been opened again. There's nothing remotely dangerous down there. But that also means that none of the students have been found."

Harry wasn't sure what he had expected as a reaction, but the silence that followed his statement was not welcomed. He wanted someone to say something, to make a suggestion of some kind.

"Have you thought of the room of requirement?" If they're being kept in there, no spell would detect it," Ron finally pointed out.

"That's a good point, Mr. Weasley," McGonagall said. "We've patrolled that area extensively, but we should put permanent guards around that door. Someone should also run another test to see if anyone is currently in there." McGonagall waited to see if there were any more suggestions before saying anything more. "If they can't be found soon, we will be forced to look at closing the school. We will try our hardest not to let this happen. We've arranged for a school evacuation tomorrow so that the school can be fully searched, but if this yields no results… there may be nothing else we can do."

"But if you close the school, you would be throwing out students that could be witnesses! You never know when someone might just be too afraid to come forwards," Ron debated.

Harry insisted otherwise. "Students are _disappearing_ , Ron. This is different than anything else. A student being injured or petrified is one thing. They can be healed! Them vanishing without a trace is another. We have no idea what's happened to them. It isn't safe for any of the students to stay if it can't be stopped."

"Not only would you be removing witnesses, but if one of the students _is_ the kidnapper, you've left the taken students to starve if we don't find them in time. Assuming they're being kept on the Hogwarts grounds," Ron responded.

Harry remembered what he had thought earlier about preventing another dark wizard from coming from Hogwarts, and had to admit that Ron had a good point.

"Both of you make good points," McGonagall told them. "I think that the best plan would be to leave the school open for a few more days as long as there are no other troubles. But if we're going to leave the school open, we'll need a better plan than the one we have currently."

The rest of the aurors and Hogwarts staff nodded, and looked towards Ron and Harry. This discussion seemed to have become a debate between the two aurors and the headmistress, to which all other attendees were only viewers.

"They wouldn't want the school to close. Whoever is taking the students, that is," Harry thought aloud. "Hopefully they'll still need access to the students they've taken. News that the school might close could cause them to change plans."

"So McGonagall can announce that the school will be forced to close in a few days if the students aren't found," suggested Ron. "And hopefully, someone will either come forwards to give us information, or the crook will make a rushed mistake. And if they don't, well, we weren't lying. The school would have to be closed at some point."

So everyone was agreed with the plan. Aurors and teachers went back to patrolling, and McGonagall went to give a short, but essential, speech.

* * *

*Pretty sure that JK Rowling said he couldn't speak parseltongue anymore, but I think this is a good compromise for this story.

 **Hello everyone! It has been less than a month since the last chapter, so cheers to that.**

 **I really look forwards to reading the reviews for this chapter though, so tell me what you think! I'm actually really excited to see how this story turns out (I know what's going to happen, but it's still super exciting anyway).**

 **I'm going to try to get one more chapter out before I have finals and final projects and stuff, but seeing as I already have gotten a few huge final projects, I'm really not sure what will happen. And after that, I'm just so excited about this story that with school out, I'll probably spend quite a lot of time writing, and finish the story quite quickly.**


	27. Chapter 27: The Cure

**Chapter 27: The Cure**

"Er, Professor Flitwick?" Daisy whispered. She half hoped that her charms teacher wouldn't be able to hear her and she could just back out of what she had planned to say.

"Did you need something Miss Dursley?" Flitwick had evidently heard Daisy's whispered call. Class had already ended, and older students were hurrying out towards their next destination.

Daisy herself hadn't had Charms that day, but it hadn't taken her long to walk from her Wizard Culture and History classroom to this one, even though she had been forced to find an escort due to the stricter school rules. Harry had been waiting outside her classroom, just to say hello, apparently. Daisy guessed that he had wanted to make sure she was okay, especially so that he would be able to assure her parents of the fact if they got news about what was going on at Hogwarts.

"All students are to go out to the Quidditch pitch after this class. You'll want to take your things with you," the Flitwick reminded her.

"Yes sir," Daisy said. "But I was wondering if I could tell you - I mean ask you - something."

Flitwick raised an eyebrow. "Would this be something Charms related, or is it about something else?"

The way Professor Flitwick said something else helped Daisy catch up to his thoughts. He thought that she might know something about the whereabouts of Jonas, Eliza, and Albus. The three still hadn't been found, and it was now not an unusual sight to see an auror or two pass by on the way to your class.

"No, it's just Charms related. I, ah, have a sort of, not problem exactly, but..."

"I definitely don't think whatever it is would be a problem, Dursley. You have a natural talent for this subject. However, we must either continue this conversation as we walk, or leave it for another time."

Daisy had been so focused on herself she hadn't noticed that most of the other students had gone. It suddenly hit her that it was the first time she had been anywhere in the castle besides a bathroom or common room without one of her friends at her side. Of course, she wasn't alone, she was with a teacher, but the thought still somehow made her feel proud of herself for being more independent.

"Sorry, we can walk," she said.

"So if this thing isn't a problem, and it's related to Charms, what is it?"

"I started noticing some things about my magic a while ago, so I decide to test a few things on my own," Daisy started. Somehow talking felt a little bit easier now that it was as if they were taking a stroll through the castle. "And so, I tried to do some of the charms without a wand, and it worked."

Flitwick's voce came out as a higher squeak than usual, and he almost tipped over a slight rift in the flooring. "It _worked_? Reliably?"

"Pretty reliably. It isn't as good as what I can do _with_ my wand, but -"

"But this is amazing! I've only had the privilege to meet someone gifted with a natural talent for wandless magic twice! One of them was my own Charms teacher, back in the day, and the other was of course Albus Dumbledore*."

"So I'm not too terribly odd then, am I?"

Professor Flitwick chuckled. "It is odd - but it's a good kind of strange, if you really can do as you say. Wizards in Europe were the first to begin using wands. Before that, not as many people were able to realize there gifts in magic, as not as many wizards have the capability and the patience to learn to focus their magic without something like a wand or a broomstick to work through. However, there are still cultures that don't use wands as much as we do."

"But there's no one else here that could teach me?" Daisy asked.

"I would be willing to help you, although my own skills without a wand are limited." The two were now walking across the Hogwarts grounds towards the growing crowd of students out at the pitch. "Unfortunately, you will have to wait until after those students have been found for me to start teaching you. I will be in touch, Daisy."

With that, Flitwick walked off towards the small group of teachers on the announcer's podium.

"How did your talk with Flitwick go?" said a voice from behind her. Arianne laughed when she saw Daisy's startled expression. "Is he going to teach you?"

"He says he will, as long as the school isn't closed and the missing students are found," answered Daisy.

"Yeah," Arianne shrugged nonchalantly. "It seems like a lot of things will depend on that." Her casual attitude didn't fool Daisy - she had seen how shaken the older girl had been at each of the announcements related to the missing students and the closing of the school.

"Anyway," Arianne continued, "The rest of the first years are this way. I'll help you find your friends before the Quodpot match."

"The what?" Daisy struggled to make her voice heard over the crowd of people Arianne was dragging her through. She had to repeat her question once they had reached a blockade of fourth year Slytherins and had to stop for a moment.

"Well, the teachers had to figure out a way for all the students to stay occupied and not cause any trouble, so they let Coach Johnson organize a game of Quodpot. It's another game played on brooms, but it's more popular in America. Johnson was on a Quodpot team when she went to Ilvermorny, apparently."

Daisy didn't get a chance to ask any other questions before they had reached the group of first years and Arianne had left her. Luckily, she had just learned about Ilvermorny earlier that day when they had talked about other wizarding schools in Wizarding Culture and History.

"Come on, slowpoke," Sophia was already pulling her off in another direction. "We have to get good seats for the game. And I heard Regina say that someone was selling sweets from Honeydukes!"

Daisy hadn't the slightest idea what was so special about Honeydukes sweets, and was much more interested in hiding away to practice more charms than watching a game, but she let herself be lead away.

High up in the stands, Coach Johnson's voice blared.

"There will only be two teams of eleven players. Quidditch captains, I want you to pick six people from your main or reserve teams to send out - two will serve as extras for the first round. You have five minutes."

"This is stupid, anyone should be allowed to play. It's not an official match," the newcomer said. Although Daisy usually found Lily's comments on anything sport related to be irritated, she did think she had a point on this one.

"They probably just didn't want to waste time picking teams," said Gracie,** who had, as usual, trailed behind Lily.

"Still. Now O'Neill is probably going to get a spot on this team instead of me."

Gracie leaned over to Daisy and Sophia. "I thought it was over - she hasn't talked about Nimue O'Neill for ages. She's the 6th year that beat her for reserve Seeker."

"And we have our teams!" Coach Johnson flew into the air for this announcement. She introduced the team members with a flourish. Daisy was surprised to see that each team had an equal number of people from each house. She was equally surprise to hear Lily laugh when Nimue O'Neill was indeed chosen for the game.

"James picked her thinking they'd be on the same team, and they'd get to work together. But they're not. She's going to beat him ten to one," Lily laughed. "And he was probably going to try to impress her! I almost feel sorry for him."

Over the course of the game, Daisy was able to see that Lily had been right. Quodpot was a lot different from quidditch - the game ran until everyone was out, for one. James was sent off the pitch when the Quod exploded in his face only three minutes into the game. The goal of the game was for one of the teams to get the Quod (a ball similar to a quaffle) to the pot at one end of the pitch before it exploded. The other team would try to block them, and prevent them from scoring. Whomever was holding the Quod when it exploded, assuming they didn't throw it into the pot in time, was out.

Half an hour into the game, about half of each of the teams had been eliminated. That was when the game was abruptly put to a stop when someone ran out of Hogwarts and stopped right next to the field. At first none of the players noticed, but when the crowd got louder and started pointing away from them, they all turned too.

Jonas Kreifels didn't look any different than any of the other students in terms of dress and general well being, but his eyes darted around with confusion.

"Jonas!" Coach Johnson cried, hurtling towards the ground on her broom. She cast it to the side without much care, and started to direct the student back into the castle. "Let's get you to the hospital wing, and we can talk about where you've been."

"Wait, no, I needed to warn you about something. But I can't remember what it was, I just can't… something about one of the Founders, it all started with that. Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw -"

Daisy had barely been able to hear a word Jonas had said, but when the quodpot exploded in the arms of a frazzled Hufflepuff player, all hope of hearing anymore was lost. The students were no longer quiet, and Jonas was being taken back up to the castle.

"We have to find out what he knows," Lily said. "He might lead us to Albus."

Lily wasn't the only ones thinking along those lines. Margo and James had both been out on the pitch when it happened. Uninhibited by crowds of people, they had been able to get into the castle right after Jonas and Coach Johnson.

"You mean he might lead the _teachers_ and _aurors_ to Albus and Eliza," Gracie said. "You're not going to be involved in this, remember."

Lily snorted. "So I'm just supposed to take a kip then, while my brother's out there?"

"No, you're supposed to do your schoolwork and be patient like everyone else. If Jonas was in the same place, it doesn't seem like Albus would be harmed," said Daisy.

"But we don't _know_ that! I'm not just going to do nothing. I'm going to help, and you all," Lily gestured towards the group of them - Daisy, Sophia, and Gracie - "you're going to help too."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"You let him go," Arianne said.

"I did."

"So why not let the other's go? Don't lie to me and say you're actually getting anything out of this experiment anymore, besides a deluded sense of power."

The corner of Malia's lips twitched. "I am getting somewhere," she said, doing her best to keep her voice level. "I just need more time and the right information." She swirled the vial of silvery liquid in her hand.

"You don't _have_ more time, Mal. It's over. I won't help you anymore."

"What are you going to do?" Malia smirked." _Tell?_ " She knew her sister didn't have the guts, didn't have the _courage_. There was a reason she hadn't been put in Gryffindor. And not only was she not brave enough, she was loyal. Maybe Malia had lost Arianne's loyalty months ago - but their mother had not. And their mother was what they were fighting for.

"Mum wouldn't want you to do this for her," Arianne whispered. Sometimes it was almost eerie how the younger girl seemed to know her thoughts so well. When the two of them had been a little bit younger, they had been the same height, and it hadn't been unusual for them to be misidentified as identical twins. Malia was grateful when a growth spurt had differentiated them. They weren't twins. No matter how they looked, or how perceptive they were of each other's thoughts.

"We don't know what Mum would want us to do, because she's dying. This could cure her, or have you forgotten?"

"I think you've forgotten that the best teams at St. Mungos looked into it."

"For how long? They've practically given up, and she doesn't have long now. This is her last chance."

Malia walked across the room to check one of her books again. She looked up from it's pages to the cage in front of her. The gorgeous fiery bird stood preening in a far off corner. It had taken her ages to get it into the castle, and she had been relieved to find that the room that she had found seemed to have some sort of anti-magical creature qualities to it, because the phoenix had not been able to escape.

 _Just a couple tears_ , she thought. _That's all I need. Yet you won't give them to me. Why_?

"Mal -"

"I don't need you right now, Arianne," Malia used her whole name for emphasis. Arianne was always Ari to her, a reminder of a time when it was always them working together. _Mal and Ari are off doing their detective work again_ , their mother would say. _Mal and Ari helped me gather supplies today, would you like to see? Mal and Ari_... yes, using Arianne's whole given name would have an effect. "Go give food to our guests or something," Malia finished.

At first Arianne didn't move, and Malia thought that perhaps, she'd misjudged her sister. But then Arianne picked up the platters of extra food Malia had brought earlier, and walked to the far side of the room.

Malia watched her as she placed a plate of food next to both Eliza and Albus; the former was still asleep. The two had adequate space. Arianne had made sure of that. They each had a mattress to sleep on, they had a bathroom, they had food from the kitchens (the House Elves never asked what you did with the food they gave you) and Arianne had even provided them with a set of wizard's chess. At any time, they could ask for one of the many books that lined the walls of the room and, with Malia's permission, they could read whichever they chose.

The only downside was what they had to go through. Malia had only given them potions she knew she could cure - and she suspected that's why the phoenix hadn't looked too troubled about any of it. Phoenixes only cried for noble, humble people, who were in dire situations - or so it seemed,*** and Malia had done her best to replicate those situations. She had chosen Eliza - well known for her bravery and kindness. A friend to all who ever needed her. When that had failed, Malia had scoured information for anything else she could go on. That's when she had realized that Harry Potter was the last known person to be healed by phoenix tears back in the chamber of secrets. Maybe it ran in the family. And then Albus had almost willingly walked into her arms! Known as the kindest of the brilliant Potter kids - what could be more perfect?

And then there were the vials of unicorn blood. Those weren't there for anyone to ingest yet, but as part of the experiment. It was unicorn blood that had made everything worse, when her mother had used some as a last resort to keep her alive when she knew the cancer was going to kill her. Malia had a theory that unicorn blood, used with phoenix tears, would be her mother's cure instead of her doom.

Of course it had occurred to her to give some of it to Albus or Eliza, but as she didn't have a way to cure them of its effects, she had rejected the idea.

And now Jonas was free. Jonas had never been a part of any of this. Malia hadn't even tried to get the phoenix to cry for him. He had just been captured because he had known the location of her hidden room, and hadn't been willing to keep it a secret. It had taken Malia only a tad more practice before she was sure that she would be able to erase Jonas' more recent memories well enough that they couldn't be uncovered without a lot of time. It wasn't likely he would remember anything before the end of the year, and hopefully his release would buy Malia some much needed time.

To tell the truth, she was stuck. She didn't know what else to do without putting Albus and Eliza in real danger of death. Was that a risk she was willing to take? It definitely wasn't even a thought for her sister, with her pure conscience.

 _Don't lie to me and say you're actually getting anything out of this experiment anymore, besides a deluded sense of power_ , Arianne had said. Was it true? Yes, she found it amusing that none of the adults had found her hideout. And no, she didn't believe they ever would. But that wasn't why she was still keeping hostages, was it? No, it was all for a better cause. If - no, _when_ she succeeded, her panacea, her cure-all medicine would go towards the greater good of all magical people.

* * *

*Can't recall specific instances of Dumbledore actually using wandless magic in the books (he did in the movies), but I know he mentioned it, used it in Legilimency and Occlumency and he is listed on the wiki when you search for people who could do magic without a wand. I just assume that even though he would have been very good at it, he was even better with a wand, just as Daisy is.

**I love Gracie so much - she was one of the first characters I thought of for this story and yet I never really included her because I didn't end up doing any school chapters in Lily's point of view (and still don't plan to). She's Lily's best friend though, If you hadn't gathered that. But in terms of how she looks, I'd pick Chandler Kinney or Amandla Stenberg(Hunger games Rue actress), if you know who either of those are.

*** Fawkes healed Harry in Dumbledore's office after Voldemort came back, but that wouldn't be in any of the records Malia looked at. The only public accounts would have been of people who were going to die doing something heroic.

 **Thanks to CandyGinnyGirl for comments on the story, and :) :) :) :) Smiley faces back :)**

 **Hope to see some more of you respond! :)**

 **Owl Out -**


	28. Chapter 28: Where to Find Them

Chapter 28: Where to Find Them

"Poppy, you have another birthday visitor!" Poppy heard her mother call. She sighed. She really just wanted to get started on her painting without anymore interruptions, but apparently, you're not allowed to go undisturbed when it's your birthday.

The only gifts Poppy had really been looking forwards to this year were the set of watercolors her parents had promised to get her, and whatever magical arrangement of trinkets she had thought Daisy was sure to send. So far the watercolors hadn't been in stock, and Poppy hadn't received news from Daisy for weeks. So much for getting what she had wanted. There was always next year's birthday - there was a chance that her parents would get her a mobile phone earlier than they had gotten Daisy one. Now that they knew Poppy might not be able to use it if she went to Hogwarts, maybe Poppy could convince them that she deserved a year of unlimited electronic privileges.

"Hi Poppy!" The visitor said when Poppy arrived at the base of the steps. It was Ginny Potter. Poppy actually managed a genuine smile. In terms of family members, Ginny was one of her favorite. She was a woman Poppy could admire and look up to. She was athletic, famous, beautiful, and still had the brains to outcompete a lot of people Poppy knew. Ginny was all Poppy ever aspired to be.

"Ginny!" the two embraced in a hug before Ginny pulled away.

"I brought you something." Ginny reached into the bag slung over her shoulder and pulled out a book.

" _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ ," Poppy read aloud. She looked at Ginny. It didn't seem to go along with the other gifts she had received from the Potters. Various sports equipment, art supplies, tickets to the theatre, and… a book? It wasn't even a brand new book. This book's spine was frayed with use, and there was a purple smudge on the cover where someone had spilled something.

Ginny smiled, and shrugged. "I thought you might like drawing from it. It's full of images of magical creatures."

Poppy opened it to a page in which there was an illustration of a rhinoceros-like beast called an Erumpent. She kept flipping through, from drawings, to moving photos. It was amazing, and different from any other book she owned.

"Thanks," she whispered.

"Of course," Ginny said.

"Have you gotten anything from Daisy yet, Poppy?" Anna Dursley asked, joining the conversation by guiding Ginny and Poppy to a place to sit instead of just standing in the hallway.

Poppy set the book down next to her on the chair. "No, I haven't heard from her in a few weeks."

"You might not get anything from her right away, I'm afraid. There's a lot going on at Hogwarts right now, she mightn't have had time to pick out a gift for you," Ginny said.

Anna frowned. "But final exams aren't for months, and she can't be that busy with quidditch."

Ginny's expression now resembled that of someone who had just received terrible news instead of someone who came to give a birthday surprise. "It's probably nothing. There are a few security changes happening at Hogwarts right now because of a couple of students. Everything should be back to normal soon."

"If it's nothing, then why wouldn't Daisy remember to pick out a gift for her sister?" Anna argued. Anna's eyes were narrowed, and with her blonde hair pinned up in a bun, Poppy thought her mother looked rather like a terrifying teacher about to tell someone off.

"A couple of students went missing -"

"And Daisy's one of them, is that it?" Anna's voice had risen above it's usual soft tones, and she glared at Ginny with ruthless perseverance. "Dudley's told me about some of the things that happened at that school when Harry went there, but he said it was _safe_ now!"

Ginny somehow remained calm while speaking, although Poppy couldn't see how she managed it. She herself wanted to leave the room right now to get away from her mother's harsh voice. The only thing keeping her there was the fact that she wanted to know what happened to Daisy.

"Daisy's fine," Ginny said. "She isn't missing, Harry saw her at Hogwarts yesterday. And Hogwarts is safe - this is the first time anything like this has happened. One of the students even returned, with no injury. I was heading back from talking to some of the parents when I stopped here."

"I want Daisy out of there," Anna said coldly.

"Anna! Be reasonable, I'm not even pulling my kids out, and one - nevermind. Daisy is safe now with the new security. There are aurors all over the school, and if the missing students aren't found, she'll be sent home anyway."

"Poppy, why don't you go back to painting," Anna said abruptly.

It took Poppy a few seconds to process that she was being dismissed before she got up and went back upstairs, carrying her new book up with her. She tried not to feel resentful that she'd been kicked out - after all, hadn't she learned what she'd meant to? Daisy was fine, and probably wasn't deliberately ignoring her.

Even though she felt reassured that nothing was wrong, she still paused before entering her room. The conversation between Ginny and Anna had paused as they listened to the sound of Poppy's footsteps as she ran up the stairs, but now that they thought Poppy was in her room, Anna continued.

"How can parents know when something this serious happens at school!" Anna said in her shrill tones. "If Daisy were going to a _normal_ school, there would be regulations, and - and most importantly there would be _communication!_ Or is that not something parents in your 'perfectly safe' magical world care about?"

"Anna," Ginny said, her voice now taught, breaking as if Ginny was mentally strangling her true frustration.

"No! It's not okay! Why weren't we told about this?"

"Look," Ginny said. "I don't know why -"

"And yet you've never seen it as a problem before _I_ brought it up?"

"And I'm _sorry_!" Ginny's voice softened into a more comforting tone after she apologized. "I don't know why no one thought of it before, but I'll talk to the Headmistress and make sure you get notified next t- if anything like this happens again."

The next words said by Anna were softer, too quiet for Poppy to hear from her listening spot at the top of the stairs, but she could hear Ginny continue to murmur quietly, and when Poppy's mother did not retort, she figured that the argument was over for now.

Poppy entered her room, closing the door behind her and heading back to her desk. She flipped open _Fantastic Beasts_ to a random page, and stopped at a picture of a twiggy looking creature.

"A bowtruckle," Poppy murmured, following the words as she read the description. It was one of the smaller creatures she had seen in the book, and apparently it guarded wand trees. "What do you think, Albert?" she said to her pygmy puff.

Albert proceed to try and walk across her filled painting palette before Poppy quickly scooped him up and placed him on her shoulder.

"You're right, I should paint it," she laughed. "At least it will be distracting."

0o0o0o0o0

"Quick, do an of you know any interesting gossip? Maybe it will distract her," Gracie said. The four girls, Lily, Daisy, Gracie, and Sophia were beginning to gather at a table in the library, per Lily's instruction.

Sophia and Daisy looked at each other blankly. They knew of nothing that would interest Lily more than the search for clues. The group had chosen a table at the back of the library, well out of the eye of Hogwarts' librarian, who, if she spotted them huddled whispering without books, would surely make them leave. Daisy searched the area with her eyes for something distracting, but she only came across the portrait of a woman reading. The young woman shrugged, and returned to hiding her face behind an open book.

It had taken a couple of hours, but eventually most areas of the castle were reopened to students, and aurors were again patrolling while teachers walked groups of students to their desired locations. It was a tiresome way of moving around, having to wait everywhere, but, Daisy supposed, it was safer. Although how the whole castle had been searched, and no students besides Jonas had been found, came as an unexpected surprise.

Lily returned to the table and sat down with a piece of parchment and a quill. "So, I've done some thinking, and I have put together -"

"-absolutely nothing, I'm guessing," Sophia interrupted.

Lily scowled, but kept going. "I have decided we should write down everything we know about the disappearances, and then research the topics we notice." She drew a chart using the quill, and labeled sections for who, what, when, where, and why. "Gracie, you start us off."

Gracie pulled the parchment towards her, and talked as she wrote. "Who. Jonas Kreifels, Elizabeth Wood, and Albus Potter. All Hogwarts students, one seventh-year, one fourth-year, and one third-year. Daisy," Gracie passed the parchment and quill.

"What. All three went missing, either were kidnapped, or fell into some kind of trap. It is unlikely they ran away, or they would have been together, and Jonas would probably still have his memory," Daisy said. She passed the writing equipment to Sophia.

"When. All three disappeared three days ago or less," Sophia began.

"Four," Gracie put in. "The fact that they were missing was noticed three days ago or less, but they could have gone missing earlier."

"Alright then, four. It seems like they all disappeared during the evening hours after class."

Lily took the parchment again. "Where did they go missing? At Hogwarts, somewhere."

There was a pause as everyone tried to think about any other specific location.

"I suppose if there was a location, the Teacher's would have it roped off by now, wouldn't they," Lily said.

Daisy frowned. "But there was a place. Margo was supposed to meet Eliza in the Library. And I heard that the Ravenclaw girl last saw Jonas in the Library. We don't know about Albus, but the library could be a connection, couldn't it?"

All four raised their heads and looked around. Daisy found herself repositioning her legs in a way most efficient to run out of the library. Libraries were usually cozy. They were full of well-read books, and friendly or studious people sitting in armchairs. It didn't feel that way anymore.

"Okay," Gracie said, breaking the silence. "Next is why. Any ideas why? Any ideas at all. Your library observation was good Daisy, maybe we can think of something to go along with that."

Daisy shook her head, still feeling that the best thing to do at this point would be to leave the library as soon as possible.

"Maybe we should look more into who was involved. Maybe there's something else we missed about the people who almost witnessed the kidnapping," Lily said. "After all, we did get a possible location out of them."

Sophia nodded. "Maybe we should go find them. They might be in the Great Hall, it's open now."

"You just don't want to stay in the library any longer," Lily pointed out.

"So?" Sophia protested. "It's not as if we're actually using any of the books!"

Lily, Gracie, and Daisy consented to leave the library and continue their search in the Great Hall, and quickly rushed to the exit. Professor Goldstein was approaching with a group of students following close behind.

In the group were a couple of Slytherins that Daisy didn't know, as well as Jonathan, Arianne, and _her_. Daisy didn't know why she hadn't recognized the similarities and connections between them before. She had seen that Ravenclaw girl before, she'd been arguing with Jonas Kreifels only shortly before he disappeared. And, she looked almost exactly like Daisy would imagine an older version of Arianne to look like.

So, Daisy had gathered that information. She bit her lip in frustration. What use were those random observations? If anything, it just showed that Daisy needed to be more observant in her daily life.

"Daisy! Sophia! I've been looking for you guys," Jonathan called out from behind the teacher.

The girls waved, and waited for the group to get closer so that they wouldn't have to yell. When they reached the doors, Professor Goldstein paused to speak to Madame Jay, giving the friends time to speak.

"Are you leaving already?" Jonathan asked. "I was just going to get some work done."

Daisy nodded. "We've decided not to stay in there, since we noticed people seem to be seen in the library before disappearing."

Jonathan's eyes widened. "Oh. But you'd be pretty safe as long as you're not alone. Er, Malia, would you mind if I stuck with you and your sister while I study? I won't talk, I promise."

The Ravenclaw girl, Malia, smiled sweetly. "Sorry. Arianne and I have some private matters to discuss. Why don't you come back to the library tomorrow," she said. Malia turned around and slipped into the library, leaving Arianne behind.

Arianne twisted her face into what looked like a grimace. "I have to go, she's right. See you, Daisy."

"Anyone willing to go in with me anyway? Please? Professor Goldstein isn't going to keep talking to Madame Jay so that you can stand here and make up your minds," Jonathan said.

The girls looked at each other, before Daisy said "I'll go with you." She hadn't gotten a chance to talk to Jonathan in a while, and besides, maybe she would get to find out more information about Malia while she was there. "You go ahead, try to talk with Margo, and maybe Scorpius. If you don't find anything out, don't just sit there talking though, make sure you get your homework done," Daisy told her friends.

"Don't worry, we'll be useful," Sophia said.

"Don't forget anything! I'll want to hear everything at dinner!" Daisy called after them as the others were led away by the teacher. She and Jonathan closed the library door behind them, and went to sit at their normal spot at the back, only to find that it was occupied.

Malia Carver was facing away from them, and didn't seem to hear their approach. Daisy took Jonathan's arm and pulled him back into another seating area before they could be seen by either Malia or Arianne. "Do you know her?" Daisy asked him after they had taken their seats.

"Malia? Not really. I just know of her. She's not very friendly with most people not in her year, but it's been said that she's a really good teacher. If you ask her about the topics she's interested in, some students say, she'll sit and talk with you about it. Arithmancy students absolutely love her," Jonathan responded. "Why?"

"She was the last person to see Jonas before he disappeared, wasn't she?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Then she's the closest we have to a witness. Maybe she knows more than she's said."

"Why would she keep back information?"

Daisy thought it was obvious, but evidently, it wasn't. "She could be under threat by the person doing the kidnapping, or she could be involved with it herself. No, don't ask why she would be involved, I don't know. I just think we should keep an eye out."

Jonathan agreed, but decided the best way was to observe normally. He did his homework, as he had planned to, while Daisy couldn't keep her eyes off of the passage between the bookshelves that she knew the two sisters would have to take to leave the library.

"Okay, I'm done with my potions essay, Daisy. You've got what, two sentences?" Jonathan finally said. "It'll be meal time soon, why don't we go already? You can spy with Lily or something later, if this is going to interrupt me eating food, I'm out."

"But they're still back there!" Daisy whispered. "They never went past us. Let's just take a look before we go, okay?"

The two had a brief staring contest before Jonathan said, "you're not going to leave without this, are you?"

"Nope." Daisy helped Jonathan pack away his books, and they left their cozy corner. They turned into the passage of books where Arianne and Malia had been posed before, and were greeted by an unexpected surprise.

There was no one there.

* * *

 **Hi! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Reviews are welcome.**

 **I actually got a lot of comments on this story since my last update on another site. I had one review from someone new here, but then I went to check just now so I could respond in this note, and it was gone, so not sure what happened there.**

 **In terms of how summer updates are going to go... I have no idea :) .** **I started driver's ed (my friends were all like _finally_ because they thought I should've gotten my learner's permit ages ago, and most of them have their license already, but I don't, because I'm not that thrilled to drive to be honest), plus I'm taking a bunch of online classes and going to a camp later... lol, I hate how fast time is going. **

**But I'm going to try to get another chapter up in June, and then the camp and driving will be over, so July should be way better.**

 **Hope I didn't leave you in too much suspense, anyway.**


	29. Chapter 29: A Complete Answer

A Complete Answer

"Merlin's beard, Daisy," Jonathan whispered. "You might actually be on to something."

The two stood looking at the empty space where Arianne and Malia _should_ have been. Their bags were gone, the chairs pushed in. No books had been left out. All was still.

"Let's take a look around, then," Daisy said.

Jonathan nodded and crouched to look under the table. Daisy picked up random books off the shelves to look behind them. She didn't see how this could be of any use. It wasn't as if two girls could be hiding inside a table leg or behind a book. Then she reminded herself that she was at Hogwarts. As far as she knew, those hiding places could be realistic ones.

It had only been a minute or two when Jonathan and Daisy stopped.

"This random search isn't going to get us anywhere," Daisy said.

Jonathan agreed, and sat down on the floor where he was underneath the table. His eyes scanned the shelves Daisy had just browsed through, and then he seemed to spot something.

"Searching randomly might not help, but maybe we won't have to search randomly."

Daisy was about to ask him what he was talking about when she saw what Jonathan was looking at. It was the portrait of the woman reading that she had seen earlier that day. The woman had moved her book slightly and was watching them through half framed glasses. She smiled when their eyes met, and waved, the sleeve of her long gown-like blue robes swinging with her arm.

"Excuse me," Jonathan approached the portrait. "Sorry to bother you, but we were wondering if you saw where two other students went. They were in here pretty recently. Two girls, one in Hufflepuff, and one in Ravenclaw."

The woman in the portrait nodded. "I saw them."

Jonathan waited a moment, but when the portrait just returned to reading her book, he cleared his throat to get her attention again.

"Can you _tell_ us where they went?"

The woman tilted her head thoughtfully, and for the first time, put her book down. "Why do you want to know?"

Daisy stepped forwards to speak, this time. "We think they know more about the missing students."

"You would be right," the woman said. "I made a mistake in telling that boy where to go. How am I to know that you wouldn't be another mistake?"

Daisy had no idea how they had gotten to a boy now. They had been talking about Malia and Arianne, hadn't they? But she figured that they must be connected somehow.

"We want to help people. We don't want anything else," Daisy said to the portrait.

The woman seemed to study the two of them for a long time, but neither of them dared to say anything. She hadn't turned back to her book yet, which they both saw as some kind of positive sign.

"Look for _The Complete Guide_ ," she said finally. "And no, I won't answer any more questions." The woman reopened the pages of her own book, and no amount of coaxing from Jonathan or Daisy would convince her to act otherwise.

"The Complete Guide?" Daisy wondered aloud. "The complete guide to what?" She moved back over to the bookshelves, this time reading the book titles carefully instead of pulling books off the shelf.

Within a couple minutes of searching, it soon became apparent to them that this method of searching wasn't going to work. So far, they had found _A Complete Guide to Potion Experiments_ , by Drew Gothel, _The Complete Guide to Magical Pets_ , by Jane Peverell, and _The Complete Guide to Hidden Passageways_ , who's author's name was smudged out of the worn fabric cover. The last one had seemed promising at first, but turned out to be all about building secret passages and knowing their uses, not finding them.

"We have ten minutes," Daisy finally noted when she turned to look at the clock. "We can't just keep searching like this." She held up a guide to studying magical creatures of the Mediterranean, pointing out the faults of looking at all the possible options.

"We could just go to dinner and tell someone what we know," Jonathan said.

Daisy shook her head. They were on the trail now. What if Malia and Arianne left while they got help? And one of them shouldn't be left to face whatever the danger was alone.

Jonathan looked like he might just decide to drag her out, but he didn't. "I'll ask again, then."

And he did, but the woman in the portrait didn't react to his voice at all. Daisy was just about to turn back to searching through the books when Jonathan found it.

"Daisy, it's here, it's right here."

Daisy looked around. Jonathan was still staring at the portrait, which still hadn't changed. He reached out, as if to touch the paint -

"- _What are you doing_?" Daisy hissed. "Do you want to get in trouble?"

"More trouble than we'll be in for snooping around and not telling anyone what we've discovered, you mean?" Jonathan pointed out. He had paused for a second at Daisy's response, but then he pulled her over to stand next to him. "Look at the shelf in the painting?"

Daisy looked. The painting was at least as tall as Daisy was, not that she was much in terms of height compared to most of her own age, but it was large all the same. It wasn't set up as a head and shoulders portrait like many of the others around the castle, either. The lady they had spoken to was clearly meant to be the focus of the piece, but she wasn't in the foreground. It was as if you were watching her while peeking around a shelf of books, which because they were in the foreground, were life sized. And one of those life sized books was labeled _The Complete Guide,_ by Rowena Ravenclaw.

"Oh," Daisy whispered.

She didn't protest this time when Jonathan reached for the book, nor was she surprised when the tips of his fingers disappeared in the darkness of the painted shadows of the shelf. Daisy couldn't see it happening, but she could imagine Jonathan reaching into the ridges between the books to pull this one out, just when she thought it really _would_ come out of the painting, the entire picture frame swung out.

"Good luck," the woman called out, as Daisy and Jonathan looked down into a dimly lit stone staircase.

They stepped in, Daisy first while Jonathan held the portrait open, which was proved entirely necessary when the door closed shut when both were inside.

Daisy felt comforted by the fact that the stairwell was not pitch black. Hovering candles like those seen in the great hall drifted in the air every few steps down. What was at the bottom of the staircase could not be seen. This could be, Daisy thought, because it went far, or it could just be because of the way the staircase seemed to curve down in a spiral. Even though it shouldn't have been any more frightening than walking through the Hogwarts dungeons as they had many times for potions, the unknown of what was ahead seemed to make the descent darker. Units of time were now unidentifiable, although Daisy guessed they had been walking slowly for less than a minute when they heard the footsteps coming towards them from the other direction.

Daisy cast a panicked look back at Jonathan. There was nowhere to hide, not a crevice, door, or hallway had split from this one staircase so far, and the only way out was back up. But if they could hear those coming towards them, then whoever it was would be able to hear them running.

"Daisy?"

It was Arianne, face aghast, holding her lighted wand in front of her face. Arianne wasn't the only one holding a wand up though, and unfortunately for Daisy and Jonathan, neither had perfected any kind of shield or protection charm.

" _Petrificus totalus!"_ Malia said, and Daisy felt her limbs snap inwards and clench together as she fell backwards, straight into her friend, ruining any chance he had of casting a spell to protect himself.

Frozen as she was, Daisy was unable to turn her head to get a better view, but she saw the ceiling grow closer as she was lifted magically into the air. Someone's hand slipped into her pocket to remove her wand, and she heard Jonathan protest as his was yanked out of his hand by magic.

They were now going down the steps, Daisy could tell that much by the candles and the voices.

"We can't just take them too!" She heard Arianne say

"They know too much. I'll let them go once I modify their memories?"

"Then why not do so now?"

Malia didn't respond, or if she did, Daisy didn't hear. It wasn't too long after that when Daisy noticed it getting lighter. The ceiling rose up into a dome above her, the illusion of a sky cast as brilliantly as it was in the Great Hall. More shelves of books, taller than even the ones in the library, towered over Daisy as she was flown across the room.

" _Finite incantatem_ ," Daisy heard Arianne say a second before she felt the disorienting feeling of each of her limbs being returned to her control - yet she still hung in the air. A moment later that spell was removed too, and she crashed to the stone floor. Daisy gasped sharply as her tailbone caught most of the pain, but managed to remain sitting upright to look around.

Jonathan was tied to a metal loop in the wall next to her. Daisy would be too, in a moment, she saw. The rope was enchanted, and had reached over to wind itself around her wrists as well. The room that they had entered was circular, shelves of books on almost every portion of the wall. The space inside the room had to be almost that of the Great Hall above, but instead of house tables, it was filled with smaller work tables, and magical equipment Daisy had never seen before.

The room felt strangely alive for being made of stone, and holding few living beings in it. Daisy spotted a large bird preening in a cage not too far away. There were of course, several people in the room with them. Daisy and Jonathan, Arianne and Malia, and, (Daisy elbowed Jonathan hard in the side when she spotted them inside a prison-like cell nearby) Albus and Eliza.

They had to get them out of here. Daisy's attention was brought back to what Arianne and Malia were doing. Malia was rushing to find a page in some book, while Arianne took a tray off of a shelf and placed two wands into it.

Daisy hadn't allowed herself to think about Arianne until this point. Before coming down here, Daisy had placed her friendship with the girl to the side while she thought, but now, seeing Arianne willingly help keep students trapped… Daisy didn't know what to think. She didn't think she felt quite betrayed exactly. This wasn't a personal betrayal, really. Daisy and Arianne weren't particularly close friends, and even that friendship had only started, what, a few days previously?

"Can't you go faster? We shouldn't be missing - _they_ shouldn't be missing for more than a few minutes more, or it'll be noticed," Arianne said, still holding the tray with the wands.

Malia didn't look up, although Daisy could see her finger stop moving across the page of the book she was reading. "If you're so worried about being considered missing, _Arianne_ , why don't you go and make sure we're not. Say that I left to go to the bathroom and missed checking out of the library, and that I sent you back to do so for me."

Arianne turned to look at Daisy and Jonathan. For a moment, Daisy's eyes met hers. Arianne bit her lip, and then looked away. "What about these two?" she asked.

"You have to let us go, now!" Jonathan interrupted. "If you don't, the school will be closed."

Malia did turn to face him. "Don't you think I heard the same announcements you did?" Malia pulled her long dark hair out of her face, looking more than ever like her younger sister as she did so. But the cruelly amused smirk on her face was one Daisy couldn't picture Arianne ever having. "I don't believe they'll close the school just yet, especially since you won't be in here for more than a few hours. They can't risk harming the missing students by taking away the one that's bringing them their meals anyway."

"But -" Malia silenced Jonathan's protest with a flick of her wand, and pointed it at Daisy too as a warning. When Daisy's mouth remained tightly shut, Malia lowered her wand. By the way Malia didn't even spare a glance for the other two captives, Daisy guessed that they had already been silenced earlier.

"Well, what are you still doing here?" she asked Arianne.

Arianne flinched. "Sorry. I'll go now." Arianne waited for Malia to go back to what she was doing before making any move to go anywhere, and when she did, it was in the wrong direction. Arianne was walking towards the four captives instead of towards the door at the opposite side of the room.

"I'll just give you guys some water before I go," she said. Daisy frowned. Arianne wasn't carrying any water, unless she intended to douse them in some from her wand. Then Arianne veered off course and set the tray holding the captive's wands on a table right next to the place Eliza and Albus were locked up.

Arianne reached to the side of the table and pulled out a few plastic water bottles. She tossed one to each of them before retreating.

"Bye," she said. She didn't turn back before disappearing up the stairs across the room.

It was only after taking several gulps of water that Daisy realized it. Arianne hadn't taken the wands back. They were right there! Eliza was standing now, glaring silently at the table where her wand rested just out of her reach, offering taunts of freedom. It was the first time Daisy could really get a good look at Eliza. Before, she had been seated next to Albus farther back in their cell, but now that she had come forwards, Daisy could see all the good and the bad. She didn't look terrible. Her robes and hair looked as if they could use a washing, but appearance wise, Eliza was much the same. What startled Daisy was the way she walked. She lumbered around heavily as if exhausted. Daisy would have guessed she was sick, or injured, but other than her faltering movements and desperate expression, Daisy could spot nothing that indicated that she had been harmed. Albus looked even more drained than Eliza did, but he was watching.

Daisy watched as Eliza again reached through the bars to her wand, and again, she failed. She was only a foot short, and Malia still hadn't noticed.

Arianne must have put the wands there on purpose, Daisy was sure of it. Arianne would have known that this wasn't just a taunt, she would have guessed, or hoped that Daisy could do it. Daisy would move one wand one foot using wandless magic. Daisy glanced over at Malia. She could practice, and get rid of Malia at once, if she did everything right.

She ignored Jonathan's frantic gestures designed to get her attention. She crossed one of her feet over his and looked at his face.

"I have a plan," she whispered. Jonathan stilled, his eyebrows raised quizzically, but he didn't try to distract her further.

Daisy's target was a glass vial right next to Malia. If she could just move it over enough for it to roll onto the floor and underneath the nearby boxes, Malia would have to go look. Or at least, Daisy hoped the vial was important enough for Malia to go looking for, and that the girl would just summon it to her magically.

" _Wingardium Leviosa_ ," Daisy whispered. As she had hoped, Malia didn't see the vial rise a few millimeters and inch off the table, she only heard the clink as it landed and rolled away - and an unexpected shattering noise that followed. Malia muttered something under her breath and rushed after it, getting on her knees to search.

Jonathan and Eliza had seen the events occur, and both were gazing at Daisy. Daisy hadn't realized it, but Eliza must have heard Daisy's spell cast, or maybe even that she had a plan, and now, Eliza pointed at the wands and tilted her head.

Daisy nodded. She mimed reaching out to catch something, and Eliza mimicked her pose, reaching as far out towards her wand as she could.

" _Wingardium Leviosa_ ," Daisy said again. A wand rose, and Daisy imagined using a wand to point it in the right direction - and then it dropped _before_ it reached Eliza's hand. It rolled closer on the ground, and Eliza snatched it up, but the damage had already been done. Malia had heard, and was pulling herself up to look.

Eliza took a chance. Malia's hair had gotten snagged in something when she bent over, and Eliza used those few seconds to her advantage.

" _Accio!_ " she said, not bothering to keep her voice down after she had broken Malia's silencing charm on all of them. Three other wands soared towards her, and she threw one to each of them randomly.

Albus unlocked the cell that he and Eliza had shared. Jonathan knew a spell to get them out of the ropes that bound them. By the time Malia turned around, the battle had turned from zero to four against one.

Daisy held the unfamiliar wand in her hand and hoped she could help, but she doubted she could. Defense against the dark arts was her worst subject, and what could a first year do against a seventh year anyway? No, it was up to Eliza and Albus now.

" _Stupefy!_ " Albus yelled, pointing his wand at Malia.

Malia responded with her own silent shield charm, and sent back another equally silent spell that Daisy could only see because of the light it made.

" _Protego,_ " Eliza stepped in. the spell bounced.

Soon the three were pointed and aiming spells at each other faster than Daisy could follow, seeing as most of their spells Daisy hadn't learned or heard of yet. She and Jonathan were just about useless in this fight, which was especially unfortunate because Malia _was_. It was clear that dueling was one of Malia's strengths, as she fought two others with no problem, and even deflected a spell Jonathan put in.

And then the battle was unexpectedly ended when Malia was hit by a stunning spell from behind her.

Arianne was back - and though she may have been against attacking her own sister, the aurors she had brought with her were not.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Thanks in advance for _reviewing._**


	30. Chapter 30: Room of Inquiry

Chapter 30: The Room of Inquiry

Daisy sat alongside Albus, Eliza and Jonathan in the Headmistress' office. Daisy had never been to McGonagall's office before, but she imagined that under normal circumstances, it wasn't so _crowded_.

The four chairs that the freed prisoners were seated in, as well as the chair McGonagall sat in, were the only ones that had already been present upon their entry. The other strange variety of chairs, some with armrests, some completely of wood, and some with no backing at all, had come from various aurors or teachers that had quite literally drawn them up.

One of the Hogwarts nurses was there too. He was allowed to stay to do some kind of health scan on Albus and Eliza when many others were ushered out.

"Surely you have better ways to spend your time!" McGonagall had squawked at the extra aurors. "And this is not the time for news interviews, Miss Weasley, how did you even get in here. Out, the lot of you!"

Daisy recognized the girl, Dominique Weasley, from her time at the Burrow that Summer. Dominique moved aside for the aurors to walk past her, still holding a quill and pad of paper, looking expectantly of the students.

"Miss Weasley," the gruff voice of one of the aurors said. He placed a hand on her arm and directed her out.

Dominique looked back at them with frustration. "I'd let you read through it before I published!" she insisted. "I could wait a few days for your approval, but the public should know -" Dominique halted her protest after she caught the eye of her uncle Ron. She allowed herself to be escorted out.

Left behind were those seated at the desk with Daisy, along with Harry, the nurse, Malia guarded by Ron Weasley, and McGonagall herself. Moments later, Jonas entered the room, Professor Flitwick at his side.

"I know you may be tired," McGonagall began.

Daisy looked out the window. It was dark out, but not so late that the students should have been ready to sleep, although, Daisy realized that the Headmistress had probably been addressing Albus and Eliza, not her.

"But," she continued, "we need to piece together this story as soon as possible."

The students nodded. Daisy tried to turn her head discreetly to get a glimpse of Malia, the only student not seated around the desk with them. The older girl was sat slumped on a stool, her hands tied in her lap, eyes downcast and nearly completely hidden by her hair. She had only just woken up from being stunned, and had not yet attempted anything that would cause trouble.

McGonagall talked a little bit more about what was already known, and then she indicated for Eliza to speak, as she had been the first taken.

"No," Arianne interrupted. "I know almost everything about this," she hesitated. " _Experiment_. I'll tell it."

Malia made a sound resembling one a cornered cat might make, but Arianne didn't look back or in any way acknowledge that she had heard her sister.

"This all started years ago when our mother fell ill. We were told she had cancer, a disease that wizards are known to be resistant towards. It's something only muggles are supposed to get, apparently, and therefore, little magical research has been done on it. We were forced to resort to using muggle treatment, and it failed."

"Failed is a light way to phrase that," Malia interrupted. "We should have known better than to go to the muggles! Their methods of killing cancer hurt the patient as well. And even after all of that, nothing good was accomplished! They only made things worse!"

Arianne proceeded without changing her story to include the outburst. "None of us, not either of my parents, nor my sister were ready to face the fact that we could be losing a piece of our family. Dad reacted by going back to St. Mungo's, begging the doctors there for help, and for a while, Mum stayed there. For a while, that was enough. The cancer was removed. But it came back, again and again, so she convinced the doctors to let her live her last months at home. With us."

Arianne took a deep breath, and brushed a hand over the bridge of her nose. "Dad and I accepted that it was the end, not knowing that Mum had another plan. I still don't know how she acquired it, but I do know that Unicorn blood was supposed to keep her alive, not destroy her. She worked every opportunity she had trying to combine the blood in a potion that would keep her alive completely, not just living a half-life like the stories say. Maybe you've guessed by now, but she failed. Yes, she's still alive, but she's been deep in a coma for more than a year now."

Flitwick murmured sympathetically, while others around cast their eyes away to avoid meeting Arianne's or simply adopted deeper frowns onto their faces.

"Malia knew about Mom's experiments before we did, though," Arianne continued, "and when the first draft of the potion didn't work, she decided she would be the one to fix it. She took the remaining samples of unicorn blood, and started trying to finish the cure that our mother started. Last term, she acquired the phoenix and somehow lured it into that room, which apparently is resistant to its magic, because it never left."

"Phoenix?" Harry asked. "There wasn't one when we searched the room. Was it hidden in a sideroom?"

Arianne stared, wide-eyed. "No, it was in a cage out in the open. If it wasn't there… that meant it could have left whenever it wanted to. Malia," she gasped, "It could have left, but it stayed, what…"

Malia's eyes widened in surprise, and her mouth curved downwards. "Impossible.."

"Nevermind, we'll get back to that," Arianne said. "Back to how Malia found The Room of Inquiry in the first place. She wasn't the one to find it - Jonas was. I don't think he remembers anymore."

Everyone looked at Jonas to had his fingers pressed to his temples, eyes clenched tightly.

"I think some of it's coming back now that you've reminded me," he said at last. "That's why I was talking about the houses. It was for History of Magic, Malia and I were doing an extra project on the Room of Requirement. We thought it was created by Helga Hufflepuff. And if both Slytherin and Hufflepuff created secret rooms in the castle -"

"-Why wouldn't the other House founders?" Eliza .

Jonas nodded. "So we went looking, and I found the portrait. It had been in the restricted section of the library before, of course, that's why not too many students went to talk to it. When the library was partially redesigned after the Battle of Hogwarts, the restricted section was moved slightly, and the portrait now visible to anyone who would venture into that cozy corner in the back of the library. People don't pay attention to portraits much. There are so many that people just get used to them, but if you really look, you can tell that the background looks like it could be the Ravenclaw Common Room, and after talking to the woman in the painting, I noticed a book on the shelf that was written by Rowena Ravenclaw herself."

"So, he opened the room, showed Malia, who then showed me," Arianne continued.

"But she wouldn't let me tell anyone about it," Jonas said. "I thought that it was okay. We could have the room to ourselves, for a little while at least, but after Christmas, I thought that she'd had enough time. I told her that I was going to tell a teacher, and that's when she snapped. She asked me to meet with her in the Room of Inquiry - is that it's official name now?"

Arianne shrugged.

"So, I went, and she didn't let me back out again until the day you found me, I guess. I didn't remember anything until now, and most of it's still pretty clouded."

"And the other students?" Harry asked, eyes briefly settling on his son. "Why were they taken?"

"For the phoenix," Arianne whispered. "Malia couldn't get it to cry, so she brought in Eliza and Albus because they're both well known for their bravery and defense of others, as well as Albus being your son."

Daisy saw Harry wince at the Albus being his son part, which confused her before guessed that the emotion she had seen was guilt.

"That makes sense," McGonagall said. "It's sad that you felt you had to resort to such methods to keep your mother alive, Miss Carver. I doubt a phoenix would be brought to tears so easily, though."

Malia didn't breathe a word, and kept her eyes definitely upwards.

"It's not just my mother," she said, at the same moment Arianne said, "It definitely wasn't easy. Ariane's frame diminished and she pulled her clenched fists into her lap as her sister spoke.

"Phoenix tears are rare, but unicorn blood can be gotten more easily. And if the effects of unicorn blood could be restrained by only a few tears, several people could have been cured from something that only would have helped one. I could have created something remarkable, something that could have cured almost _anything_."

"Or you could have killed two people," Arianne whispered, "and have only an injured unicorn to show for it."

" _Killed_ two people?" Ron's voice jolted out of the blue. "What exactly happened down there. I mean, those two _look_ fine, but if they could have been killed…"

"I never would have killed anyone, I swear," Malia protested. "I had antidotes for every magical plant, potion, and poison I could get access to."

"Because the draught of living death is predictable and you were _absolutely sure_ your antidote would work," Arianne said.

A shocked silence rippled out from her words.

"I was never planning to use -"

"Miss Carver, I'm astonished - no, not after all of this, I can't say I truly am," McGonagall sighed. "50 points will be taken for your treatment of your fellow students. For this severity of rule breaking, more points would be taken, but for the sake of being fair to your house, whatever the ministry decides to do will serve as a consequence. I think it's time that you were escorted out, unless anyone has anything else to say about what you have done."

No one moved.

Ron began to walk towards the door with Malia at wand point, when she stopped.

"You didn't see what they had done to her," she snarled. "Those muggles have no idea what they're doing, half killing a person to give them only a _chance_ at life! I could have created something so much better!"

"That's enough," Ron said, and raised his wand higher.

Malia looked at her sister one last time, lips pinched tightly together, eyes blinking rapidly to avoid spilling over. Then she turned and walked swiftly out.

"Now we need to hear about how you escaped," Harry said to the rest of them once Malia had gone.

"That was thanks to Daisy," Albus said. "It's thanks to her our wands were returned to us."

Eliza nodded. "It was amazing. She cast a levitation charm without her wand! Got a wand to move close enough to me that I could grab it and free the rest of them."

"Really?" Harry asked, amazed.

"That's quite a gift," McGonagall agreed. "Professor Flitwick -"

"I'd already planned to help her with it as soon as the students were found."

"It wasn't just me," Daisy said, even as she nodded. "Arianne put the wands there. It looked like she did it deliberately. She's the only one who had seen me use wandless magic before."

Arianne nodded in confirmation, although Daisy figured that if she really hadn't intended to help, she would have nodded anyway. One more reason for the adults to put her with the good guys and skip the harsh punishment Malia would surely be receiving.

"Then we dueled," Albus continued the story, aiming his words at his dad, "and you turned up in the middle of that."

"Thank you for your statements, all of you," McGonagall told them. "We may have more questions later, but for now, I think that it is time for you to get some rest. All of you will be going to the hospital wing -"

"But professor," Jonathan said, "Daisy and I - and Jonas - aren't injured!"

"And we can't have you going back to your common rooms where the other students will badger you for information, of which they will gossip and talk about until it is miles from the truth. It can't hurt you to spend one night undisturbed, and where adults can keep an eye on you." McGonagall's eyes settled on Arianne. "You helping in the escape effort does not erase the fact that you helped in their capture in the first place. You will be stripped of your duties as prefect, and 50 points will be taken from Hufflepuff. You will have to serve a punishment, which can be decided on at a later time.

But, those of you who helped us resolve this conflict deserve a reward as well. Jonas, Ravenclaw will receive 60 points for your miraculous discovery of a room that will contribute much to magical research and Hogwarts findings. Miss Dursley and Mr Claviss will be given 50 points for their skills in finding and freeing their classmates. 50 points will be Awarded to Gryffindor for Eliza's quick action, bravery in withstanding whatever treatment Malia had given her, and dueling. 45 points go to Slytherin, since Albus also dueled Malia in their escape and faced her cruelty."

"Only 45 points?" Albus asked incredulously.

"Your imprisonment was due, at least partially, due to you wandering the castle out of permitted hours. 5 points were removed for this. Now," she referred to the rest of them again, "All of you will be escorted up to the hospital wing. Hurry now, lest you be bombarded with interview questions from a certain Weasley."

 **What do you think? Let me know :)**


	31. Chapter 31: Peace Returns

Chapter 31: Peace Returns

Over the next couple of days, Daisy found herself seated on a growing chair of popularity. People, including older students she had never spoken to before, offered their congratulations and tried to weasel some small fragment of information from her. Daisy, as instructed, kept her mouth shut. In fact, they all had.

Even without any leaks of information, people still came up with their own explanations, many of which were close to the truth. People usually guessed that Malia had tried to abduct Daisy and Jonathan, just as she had the others, but in this version of the story, one of them had an extra wand up their sleeve and attacked Malia when she wasn't looking. Others hypothesized that Daisy was secretly trained in Muggle martial arts and had fought with her bare hands while Jonathan got the wands and freed the others.

In all versions of the story, Malia was the main villain, an obvious conclusion as she had left with the Aurors. Arianne was also either a sidekick, or an unwilling helper that turned good in the end, something people guessed by the fact that she was Malia's sister and no longer a prefect.

A few evenings later, McGonagall did offer an official report of events to the entire student body, but the account didn't include any reasoning behind the events and did not fully explain what the Room of Inquiry was.

"Why don't we check out the Room of Requirement since we're here?" Jonathan asked. They were just walking through the seventh-floor corridor again, and any change in subject was a welcome one to Daisy. Sophia hadn't been content with any amount of detail Daisy had told and retold her.

"You think of a place first," Daisy said. Daisy and Sophia stopped in front of the empty wall as Jonathan paced the floor three times, and stopped.

No door appeared.

"I guess I must have done something wrong," Jonathan murmured. He repeated his pacing, and again, no door.

Daisy walked past him to make her own request from the room. Show me home. I need to be back home, she thought repetitively, her eyes near shut so that only a small bit of the floor was visible between her eyelashes.

Daisy's eyes fluttered open again, and she looked at the wall confusedly. "Why isn't anything there? We are in the right corridor, right?"

"This is the same one as before," Sophia nodded. "So, what are the conditions for the room to turn up?"

No one spoke for a moment, as a few other students passed through the corridor without looking at the three first years staring at a blank wall.

"You have to walk past it three times, and think really hard about a place," Daisy said. "We did that."

Sophia nodded and continued on the path of pacing on her own just as Jonathan and Daisy had done.

"I guess you're missing something, then," she said when the door still didn't appear.

They shrugged it off and left the corridor, heading towards the Great Hall. For the first time in more than a week, Daisy's mind wasn't on the recent events of disappearance. Why hadn't the room showed up? It couldn't have been destroyed. Something with such powerful magic couldn't just fall apart.

"You lot look cheerful," came the sarcastic words. Albus seemed to be walking on his own towards the dungeon. His school bag was still slung over his shoulder, and an old piece of parchment was held folded in his hand.

Jonathan and Sophia looked at each other before turning to Daisy. Neither of them had ever really conversed with the older student for longer than was necessary to say 'hello' or 'excuse me,' or in Jonathan's case 'you don't need to thank me, we worked as a team,' when the group of them had been stuck in the hospital wing together.

Daisy shrugged. "We just came from the Room of Requirement. We couldn't get in. You wouldn't have happened to be in there, would you?"

Albus shook his head. "What did you want to go in there for?"

"Just for fun." If fun was the word for it. Daisy wasn't sure what the others had been looking for in the room, but she knew she hadn't just been going for the enjoyment. No student had been allowed into the Room of Inquiry since it was found by the staff, and no student would be allowed in until the search of the room had been completed. Somehow, Daisy had connected seeing the Room of Requirement to seeing the Room of Inquiry. It was as if she had expected the room to give her answers to the questions she hadn't asked yet.

"Well, the room can be fun, but just keep in mind that it gives you places you need, not just places you feel like going to," Albus said.

"Oh." That was what they had been missing. Daisy wasn't homesick anymore, she didn't feel lost, she wasn't so full of tension that she needed to be home. Hogwarts _was_ her second home now. And Jonathan and Sophia? Daisy could only guess that their requests hadn't made it into the needs category either.

"So," Daisy said, realizing she hadn't really responded to Albus after drifting off into her own thoughts. "What brings you here?"

"I had to go pick up my textbook. I left it in charms earlier. Speaking of charms, I really do need to go study. Have you talked to Flitwick about your lessons yet?"

"Not yet, but he has been busy lately."

Albus nodded. "Well, I hope that goes well. And here - you probably haven't seen this yet, I got an early issue. Give it a read." He handed over a magazine labeled _The Quibbler_.

Daisy moved to stand between Jonathan and Sophia as they read the first story.

 _Student Reaches New Level of Evil - or Kindness?_

 _By Dominique Weasley and Merlynn Swift_

 _This past couple of weeks, parents may have gotten some alarming owls from students about the events taking place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Parents and family should be thrilled to hear that the missing student cases have indeed been solved - but not, as expected - by the castle staff or the ministry's Aurors._

 _Daisy Dursley (to see more about Dursley-Potter history, see page 5) and Jonathan Clavis, both age 11, solved the case on their own. Whether parents will find it an act of bravery or extreme recklessness, the two first years followed a student they found suspicious and ended up locating a Hogwarts treasure._

 _One would have thought that there would be some historical record of a secret library designed by Rowena Ravenclaw herself, causing some to doubt the authenticity of such a place, but it does exist. Earlier this year, the room was found by Jonas Kreifels, age 18, and Malia Carver, age 17. When Jonas refused to keep the place secret, he became the first of the abductees._

 _But why would a seventeen-year-old girl want to kidnap other students? Further questioning revealed that she was, in fact, searching for something even more precious - something to cure all diseases. The students were not taken at random. Both Miss Wood and Mr. Potter were chosen as likely candidates to draw out phoenix tears. As well as saving her own mother from cancer…_

The article went on to debate muggle relations, wizard medicine, and ethics, bringing Daisy's own thoughts to the table. Why didn't wizards provide help in finding solutions to muggle diseases? They had a gift to help people, surely they could use it to save lives. There had to be a way of doing this without exposing the Wizarding World to the public. There just had to be.

"At last, a satisfactory description of what happened, and from people who weren't even there," Sophia sighed. "Who'd you think they got this information from?"

"It could have been anyone," Jonathan pointed out. "We had to keep the secret until McGonagall announced what happened, but it wouldn't surprise me if someone accepted an interview since then."

Having reached a conclusion, the three met each other's eyes and let out a bubble of relieved laughter.

"Second year will be so boring," Sophia said between laughs.

Jonathan shook his head. "We'll find a way to make it interesting."

~0~

Daisy knocked lightly on the door to Professor Flitwick's office. It was open, and she could see the small man pouring over some papers stacked on his desk, but she didn't think it would be polite to just step in.

Flitwick looked up. "Ah, Miss Dursley! Thank you for coming, do come in."

Daisy stepped in. The room was simply decorated, a desk at its center surrounded by stone walls upon which hung framed portraits and other painted scenery. A bookcase stood in front of one wall, and on the opposite side of the room was a door, presumably leading to Flitwick's sleeping quarters.

"Take a seat," he said. "Would you like a cupcake?" He opened a drawer to the side and lifted a vanilla cupcake out with his wand.

"Thank you -" Daisy giggled as the cupcake danced its way across the desk to her outstretched palm.

Flitwick smiled at her kindly. "As you might have guessed, I invited you here to talk about future lessons with you. As there isn't a whole term left this year, and you will soon be taking your first ever exams here, I thought that it might be best to start when school resumes in September. Do you have any thoughts on this?"

Daisy shook her head. It still seemed such a strange idea to her that Flitwick would want to take the time to give her private lessons. She had no problems with him deciding when they would start.

"Good. I thought that perhaps it would be good to inform your parents of our plan as well. I can stop by during the summer if that would be convenient for you."

Daisy nearly spat out her bite of cake. A teacher stopping by to talk to her parents? Full wizard robes and all? Yes, McGonagall had visited during the summer, but somehow that seemed such a different experience. Harry had been there to smooth everything over.

Although, after all this time, there really shouldn't be a problem with her parents and a wizard.

"I think that would be okay," she said. She crossed and uncrossed her fingers once behind the desk, hoping that she was right.

"Then, unless you have any questions, you can go."

Daisy thanked the professor and then left to go back to the Hufflepuff common room. It was her turn to water their room's plants that day, and she would need to do it before she forgot.

Daisy had, at last, passed the stage of dreading going out into the halls for fear of running into more people that wanted to congratulate her and see her try a bit of wandless magic. The response to the news article that Albus had shown her had been one more of debate than amazement. People would get together and have arguments on whether Malia's act had been forgivable or not.

"We shouldn't have to deal with Muggle problems," Bella Castle had announced at breakfast that morning, sparking a House-wide debate on medical procedures, the Statute of Secrecy, and Blood status. No one had won, and teachers had to break up arguing students to get them to class.

All in all, Daisy was glad most Hufflepuffs seemed to agree that the debate should remain outside the common room. When she reached her dormitory, it was quiet. Only Regina was there studying for exams.

"I left the watering can next to the door yesterday." She pointed, and Daisy went to fetch it.

One of the plants she had to take care of was not a single living thing, but a forest in miniature. The trees were Sophia's. Each only a couple inches high, they mimicked the natural cycle of trees. When Sophia had brought them to school after Christmas Holiday, Daisy had been at a loss as to what use a bunch of dead tiny shrubs could be, but as spring arrived, the trees grew little buds of green. Each one reflected the state of the trees outdoors, and by the time final exams came around, not one remained bare of leaves.

The final Quidditch match of the year was played, revealing Hufflepuff as the victors by only ten points. Daisy hadn't gotten to play in any of the real matches, but she was congratulated in her effort anyway.

"You did an amazing job this year, Daisy," Margo had said, wrapping her arms around Daisy. Daisy hugged her back, and at first, couldn't see who's arms wrapped around her from behind.

"I doubt you're good enough to keep Gryffindor from winning next year," Eliza teased, "But you're amazing anyway. Keep it up, girl."

Accalon Applebee reached over Margo's shoulder to give Daisy a high five. The seventh-year boy had achieved his goal of winning a Quidditch cup before he graduated and hadn't stopped beaming since.

"Don't listen to Eliza," he said. "I know you'll do a great job when you replace me as keeper next year."

Final exams arrived as well, bringing everyone back to their senses from all the wildness of Quidditch. First-year exams weren't a big deal, Daisy knew, but she came out of each one feeling proud of herself anyway. She guessed that she had aced the Charms tests, as well as Potions. Most of her other classes, she felt she did pretty well in. Her only doubts were in Defense Against the Dark arts, where she had been dismayed to find that she hadn't been able to recall most of the test answers, and Math, a subject in which she rarely did well in, even in the Muggle world.

"Do you know when we get our marks back?" Daisy had asked Lily after their Defense Against the Dark Arts Exam.

"Sometime this summer. I wouldn't worry about it. Marks as a first year don't determine anything, and you work so hard that you can't have failed.

Daisy bit her lip. "You never know. I could have missed something."

Lily only laughed and shook her head. "You underestimate your own skill. You shouldn't. After all," her voice clipped off, "It looks like you'll be the hero of our generation."

Daisy chose to ignore the ending sentence for the moment. There would be time to talk to talk to Lily about everything later. She took her cousin's hand, and they left the classroom to enjoy their last few days at Hogwarts.

* * *

 **Please review!**

 **Sorry it took me a while to get this chapter up, but I think it's a good one :)**

 **Two more chapters to go!**


	32. Chapter 32: Prizes

**Sorry for the long wait you guys! Good news, the next (and last) chapter is more than halfway done, so that one will be up sooner.**

"And this year, I announce the House Cup winner as Ravenclaw, with 500 points" Professor McGonagall proclaimed on their last evening. The Ravenclaw table erupted into cheers, forcing the Headmistress to pause before continuing. "In the second place, we have Gryffindor with 487 points," another pause for more cheers, "and tied for third place are Hufflepuff and Slytherin, each with 470 points."

There were mixed responses to that final comment, with some students glaring across tables towards "enemy" students, and others high-fiving their opposing classmates. Many had been surprised at the standings, what with so many large point amounts having been given and taken from each of the houses.

"We thank you for taking all of this in good sport. This year ended with very close standings. Perhaps some of you will take that as motivation to do even better next year," McGonagall concluded.

Back at the table, Sophia nodded. "I now know which teachers appreciate extra questioning, and which will take away points for interrupting class with unnecessary questions."

Daisy laughed. "And, next year, you'll earn us loads of Defense Against the Dark Arts points to make up for it."

~0~

"I'll send the both of you an owl every week," Daisy said to her friends. The Hogwarts Express had just arrived at Kings Cross Station, and students were rushing forwards to meet their families.

"I'll look forward to it," Jonathan said, speaking above-normal volume to be heard.

"I'll probably have to share an owl," Sophia added, "but I'll send back letters when you send me yours."

Daisy nodded. "I see my parents," she said. "Bye!" She started to pull her trunk in the direction of her mom and dad when Poppy rushed to her side.

"I missed you!" Poppy whispered into Daisy's ear, her arms wrapped around Daisy's middle. Connie screeched from inside her cage as if to express her own greeting.

"We all missed you, Daisy," Dudley agreed, as he and Anna caught up to them.

 _Except for Grandpa Dursley_ Daisy remembered silently, but she grinned back anyway. "You have to tell me everything exciting that's happened since Christmas," she noted.

Anna's grin seemed to tighten slightly. "I think that you'll have a much more interesting story than anything that's gone on around here," she said. "I heard that there were some… unusual events happening at Hogwarts earlier this term."

Daisy winced, wondering just what her mother had heard. "Yeah. I'll tell you about it when we get home though. Let's go."

Less than an hour later, the family pulled up to their home in Little Whinging. It looked just as it always did in summer, with the flowers in front in full bloom. None of the neighbors were out, but there was someone walking towards them a distance away.

"Dad?"

"Yeah?" Dudley said, reaching to take Connie's cage out of the car.

Daisy placed a hand on his shoulder, and he turned his head. "Do you think you could take Connie in through the back and keep her in your room for a little while?"

"What? Oh." Dudley saw what Daisy's concern was as Emma waved at him from a couple houses away. "I can do that," he said. "Take Emma in first, and make sure she stays where she can't see."

Daisy nodded. She turned to face Emma as her friend walked up the path towards her.

"Daisy," Emma greeted, giving her friend a hug. "I'm so glad it's summer. We'll be able to catch up properly now."

Daisy grinned and hugged her back, but at the same time, she could feel anxiety churning in her stomach at the thought of how many lies she would have to tell. She couldn't tell Emma about Quidditch, which was now her favorite sport, she couldn't tell her about her favorite classes, or even about the huge discovery of The Room of Inquiry.

"I can't wait," she said anyway. "Why don't we go inside." The two walked amiably towards the front door, Daisy desperately trying to think of something to spend more time. She wished she could ask someone else for help, but Poppy was carrying something, and not looking her way, and their mother was already inside. Had Poppy been next to her instead of on the other side of Emma, Daisy could have discretely knocked something out of her hands, and then stopped to help, but that wasn't an option. If only Dudley would text her to let her know when it was okay to go in -

Her phone. Daisy had left it in the car.

"Do you mind going back for a minute?" she asked Emma. "I think I left my phone behind in the car."

Emma laughed. "How? I can't last two minutes without my phone, and yet you leave it behind so easily."

By the time they actually reached the house, Dudley had sent an "all clear," and Emma and Daisy started to head up the stairs to get to Daisy's room.

"Can I come?" Poppy asked, following them through the door.

Daisy shared a look with Emma. "Not this time."

Poppy grumbled but headed towards the kitchen when the older girls walked towards the stairs to get to Daisy's room. The two flopped down, laying side by side on Daisy's bed. Neither of them said anything for a minute or two. Daisy just stared at the ceiling. She thought she could sense Emma looking at her, but she didn't check.

"It's good to be home," Daisy said.

"Yeah," Emma agreed. "What's our plan for this summer?"

"We should dye our hair again. Change it up a bit. Maybe… a canary yellow."

"Maybe yours," Emma hesitated, "I think I'm starting to like my natural brown." She curled one of her long strands of hair around a finger and didn't meet Daisy's eyes.

Daisy shrugged. It was different. Ever since the first mistake in dying their hair, they had always gone out to get it done. Together.

"Okay," Daisy said. "We'll bike. We'll bike, and every day, we'll go somewhere new."

"So eager for change, are you?"

"I don't know. What did you want to do?"

Emma shrugged. "I'm not sure what I want to do. I just feel so different."

"Would you rather spend time with your school friends?" Daisy asked. Now that she thought about it, Emma had never talked about the people at her school much. Just classes, and what she was interested in.

"Of course not," Emma responded.

Daisy finally turned to look back at Emma. Emma grinned, licked the tip of her finger and reached out as if to try to tap Daisy on the nose.

Daisy lurched up off the bed. "Don't you dare!"

Emma laughed, and for a moment Daisy felt as if things had never changed.

~0~

When Emma left, it was revealed that her visit had only delayed a talk with her parents about school. Why was it that they only wanted to focus on the bad parts? Daisy had already sent them several owls reassuring them that yes, she was alright, and no, she had not been in any way injured.

"We just want to know the whole story," Dudley said. Poppy snuck in and sat behind him, trying to look like she was supposed to be there.

"Well," Daisy started, "Students started going missing."

"Started?" Anna asked. "As in, one by one?"

Daisy nodded.

"But they were all found, right?"

"Yes mum, they're all fine now."

Dudley coughed. "How many students went missing?"

"Three." Before either of her parents could get in another word, she started into the larger story. "One older kid was taken because he knew some stuff that someone else wanted to be kept secret, and the other two, including Albus, were taken because they were needed for an experiment."

"Albus Potter?" Anna choked. "Oh. Oh no, I wonder if I said anything insensitive when Ginny was here. But he's fine now, isn't he?"

"Yep. You know, why don't I just show you the article about it?" Daisy said, wondering why she hadn't thought of it sooner. Then she wouldn't have to deal with explaining everything. She ran back up the stairs and pulled out a copy of The Quibbler, and returned to hand it to her parents.

Daisy watched their eyes move back and forth across the page, a small frown appearing on both. Poppy tried her best to read it between her parents' heads, and an expression somewhere between jealousy and being impressed appeared on her face.

Daisy bit her lip. She wasn't sure what she expected - a scolding or praise - but just waiting for a verdict to be declared wasn't pleasant.

"Well," Dudley put the magazine down, only for it to be snatched by Poppy. "I think that I would say that what you did was extremely reckless. But I'm proud of you. It looks like you did a pretty good thing."

"Just make sure you don't ever do it again," Anna added sternly, glaring at her Husband for only giving praise. "Go to an adult first. Just because you got lucky this time -"

"- doesn't mean I'll get lucky every time. Got it."

They separated, and Daisy went back to her room to unpack her things.

"Hogwarts sounds like an interesting place," Poppy said. She stood in the doorway, watching Daisy transfer her clothes from her trunk to the dresser.

"It is," Daisy agreed. "But it's not all adventure. For a while, everyone thought the school would be closed. And when it wasn't, we still had to go back to classes and take our exams just like a muggle school."

Poppy nodded. "Here." She held out the magazine, having finished reading it. "Do you need any help unpacking?"

"Sure." Daisy directed, and with her sister's help, her trunk was empty of everything but school books in only a few minutes.

The last thing Daisy pulled out of the trunk was a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans, a Reusable Hangman, and a box of Skiving Snackboxes.

"Er, I forgot to send these to you earlier, when I sent you your birthday card," she said, holding them out to Poppy.

"Thanks!" she looked delighted with her unexpected gift and opened the box of beans immediately.

"Careful!" Daisy cautioned.

It was too late, though. Poppy had already spit out the bean into her hand. "What _is_ that? It tastes like - it tastes like how a skunk smells! Why would you ever want to eat that?"

Daisy laughed. "They come in every flavour. You can use them as a sort of game with friends. You might get one that tastes like berries, or, you might get something like grass, or onion."

Poppy grinned. "I'm going to give one to Mum and see what happens."

"No! Poppy, that's not a good idea!" but she was already off, having left the other two gifts on Daisy's desk. Daisy sighed. She'd be back for them later.

To her surprise, Anna's voice called Daisy's name a few minutes later, not Poppy's. Daisy groaned and started towards the stairs. She should have known that she would be the one to get the blame.

"This came with that owl," Anna pointed a a large barn owl preening itself in the windowsill and held up an envelope. The seal was already torn, meaning that Daisy's mother had probably already read its contents.

Dudley stepped in, feeding the barn owl one of Connie's treats, and then ushering it out the way it came. "It's a letter from one of your professors."

Daisy's stomach dropped. Had there been a mistake in her test scores? Would she have to retake a class?

"Professor Flitwick," Dudley continued, "said he'd like to meet with us next week about some private lessons you'll be having with him next year."

"Oh." Daisy said.

Anna nodded. "Yes. Do tell us more. What exactly can you do with this… _wandless_ magic?"


	33. Chapter 33: Faith, Trust, & a Wand

Chapter 33: Faith, Trust, and a Wand

The fifth time Poppy was asked whether or not she thought she would be going to Hogwarts, she decided that being around the magical side of her family wasn't so great after all. This question was like the wizard version of "what you you want to be when you grow up?" It was a question that Poppy didn't know the answer to, made her uncomfortable when she was asked it, and was subject to change.

"Don't let it bother you," Albus had told her. "They're probably just eager to start making guesses on what House you'll be in."

This hadn't made Poppy feel any better.

" _Hufflepuff_ ," she pouted, kicking a stone across the ground. " _Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenpuff_ \- no that's not right. It's claw." The House Daisy had teased she would never get into.

Poppy looked up. She was out of earshot of the house now. A couple of people sat around a picnic table behind the Potter's mansion, but many people had gone back inside. Ginny waved at her from her seat, and Poppy waved back before she kept walking into the patch of trees. She wasn't entirely sure that this part of the land belonged to Harry and Ginny or not, nor did she care much at the moment. She wasn't so far away that no one would be able to see her if they looked.

After passing a couple of trees, Poppy got the odd feeling that she should be quiet. Dead leaves from seasons past crunched loudly under her boots, and she stopped. Looking up, all of the leaves above were green. She wondered if anything lived in these trees besides the normal muggle things.

She sat down under one of the trees, and pulled out _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ from her bag. She had taken to carrying it around with her alongside her sketchbook. When her mom had found out, Poppy had been warned against taking it to her muggle school, but the book followed her there anyway.

None of the other kids at her school ever looked in her bag, and none of them had seen her personal art. They admired her skill in creative school projects, but Poppy had never shown them that she could do any more than that.

During her free time, she had finished drawing the bowtruckle, the hippogriff, and an occamy, the creatures that most seemed to fascinate her. She guessed that the hippogriff and occamy couldn't be found by just walking into a patch of trees, but maybe the bowtruckle could.

The book had said that they were found in wand trees, but how could a wand tree be identified? She scooped up a stick from the ground, and tapped it against each tree trunk as she went in circles around it, looking up at the branches. She didn't see anything except a couple of of ants and woodlice. She scooped up one of the woodlice and waited for it to uncurl itself. It crawled across the stick she had picked up, and she slowly turned the stick in her hand to keep the bug from falling off.

She'd returned back to her original tree by this point, and bent over to pick up the bag she had left behind. When she stood, Poppy caught a glimpse of a creature watching her. Or, she realized, it was watching the woodlouse.

"Do you want it?" Poppy held out the twig and watched as the bowtruckle revealed itself. The small animal climbed out onto the twig, snatched the woodlouse, and returned to its tree, its eyes never leaving her.

Poppy didn't leave her spot under the tree for what felt like a long time. She had hoped that the bowtruckle would pop back out again, but all she had been able to see was the tip of what she thought might perhaps be one of its limbs.

After a while though, she heard someone calling her name. She went back to collect her bag, and ran back towards the Potter's house.

"There you are," Ginny smiled at her when Poppy reached the table. "The last people just now showed up, so we thought we could bring out the food.

Ginny waved in the direction of Rose and Albus who were both carrying dishes out to a picnic table, followed by a boy Poppy couldn't remember seeing before.

"If you'd help carry something out, it would be appreciated."

Poppy nodded and towards the door, bag still slung over her shoulder, and stick still clenched in her hand. Earlier, she had seen Harry levitating a bowl of food across the Potter's kitchen, but when she had asked Lily about it, Lily had told her that their parents didn't let them skip out on ordinary tasks just because they had magic. This must have been one of those tasks, as Poppy was fairly certain that the adults could magic all the food out here quicker than the kids could carry it.

Poppy found that a line of people coming out of the house blocked her from going in, so she ended up just holding the door open as everyone walked out.

"There you are," her sister said as she came out. "I was wondering where you'd gone. We'll talk later." Daisy went out the back door, following another person Poppy didn't recognized. The woman had long blonde hair, and was wearing a dress dotted in vibrant colours. Poppy wondered if she had missed introductions while she was out looking in the trees, or if she had just met so many people at the Weasley gathering the previous year that she had forgotten them.

Poppy let the door swing shut once everyone was through. A quick peek into the house showed her that there was nothing else to collect, so she turned to find a seat somewhere.

Most people had already taken seats. It wasn't nearly as big of a gathering as the one before that year of school, nor was it only family, but there were still quite a few people. Poppy spotted her parents seated next to Rose and Hugo's mother, who was chatting animatedly with Anna. Daisy was still helping to organize food with Lily, who carried a jug of some unknown wizard drink, searching for somewhere to put it down.

Poppy saw the stone sticking out from the ground only seconds before Lily reached it.

"Watch out!" Poppy called to her, reaching forwards with her arms as if she could somehow catch her from this distance.

Lily tripped anyway, and Poppy saw, as if in slow motion, the jug begin to tip forwards, and spill across the table. Her arm reached out reflexively, even though, realistically, she wouldn't be able to catch it from this distance.

But that was without accounting for the wand-quality twig still held in her hand.

The pitcher hung in mid air, not having tipped far enough to spill.

"Thanks -" Lily plucked it back out of the air and turned to look at whomever had helped her. " _Poppy?_ "

Not everyone had seen what had happened, but enough people had. James whooped. Daisy smiled. Someone started clapping, and a few others joined in.

"Congratulations!" Albus laughed.

"Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant," someone said from amidst the cheers.

"Er, what exactly happened?" Dudley and Harry poked their heads out from inside. Apparently, they had still been finishing up and only knew something was happening from the cheers.

Poppy looked at Lily. Her cousin tipped her head, indicating that Poppy should share. Poppy wasn't exactly sure she wanted to share what had just happened in front of everyone. Yes, she was happy that she might be able to go to Hogwarts, but all the same, she wished that it would have been a given thing, and not something to be made such a big deal out of.

"Lily tripped," she said. "I caught the pitcher with magic. With this." Poppy held out the twig she she had kept from her journey out into the trees.

"I'm happy for you," Dudley smiled. It seemed genuine to Poppy, which was somewhat of a relief after the whole argument with her grandad.

"As am I."

Poppy startled as her mother wrapped her in a hug from behind, Anna's light hair tickling her face as they looked at each other. Anna was smiling too, but eyes looked conflicted.

"Are you really?" Poppy asked.

"Yes. Yes I am," Anna confirmed. "I just wish - well, it doesn't matter now. You've still got another year home with us."

After a few minutes, everyone found a seat and ate while they chatted with the people around them. It really wasn't too many people. The Potters, the Granger-Weasleys, the Lovegoods (who Poppy had, in fact, _not_ met before), and of course, the Dursleys, sat around for hours.

"Do you think we could see that 'wand' of yours, Poppy," Harry asked at one point during the meal.

Poppy felt more than a little reluctant to let it out of her possession, as if it were what made her worthy of going to Hogwarts, but she let it go.

Harry turned it over in his hand. It was sturdy, but rather bendy, and had a few small pieces starting to grow out of it. It was also longer than the wands Poppy had seen before.

"Can I use it as my wand?" she asked.

Harry shrugged, uncertain. "It isn't a wand in that sense. You'd need to have it shaped, and have core added for it to function properly. I'm not really sure how it works. I assume it must be wand quality since you were able to get something out of it, but I don't really know enough to tell."

"May I?" Luna Lovegood reached out a hand to take a look.

Harry looked at Poppy first before handing the twig over to Luna, and dismissing himself to go inside.

"It's very pretty, isn't it?" was her first comment.

Poppy wanted to roll her eyes and snatch the wand back. If that's the only insight that could be offered, it might as well be in Poppy's hands.

"I'd guess it's from a cherry tree. Where did you find it?"

Poppy blinked. Maybe there was something more to know. "I found it in the trees over there." She pointed. "I'm not sure which tree it came from, it was on the ground. I - I also saw a bowtruckle. It ate a bug off of the stick."

Luna's eyes brightened. "Really! That's very lucky." She handed the cherry twig back over to Poppy. "I think that will be a beautiful wand."

"Let's have a toast," James proposed from the head of one of the tables.

Luna and Poppy turned to face him as they held their glasses.

"To magical discoveries!" he announced, waving at Poppy.

Several of the kids echoed the chant and drank juice or butterbeer, laughing as they did so.

Luna turned to Poppy specifically. "To what will soon be known."

"Well now that Poppy's gotten the spotlight for a while, let's give a turn to some others," Harry said. He had returned from the kitchen with six letters sealed with the Hogwarts crest.

James, Albus, Rose, Lily, Hugo, and Daisy walked forwards and each took one. Daisy returned to Poppy's side, and their parents eagerly appeared in front of them.

"Go on," Anna urged. "Let's see what it says then."

Poppy watched Daisy's face as she opened the envelope and read its contents. Her whole posture seemed to relax.

"I did okay," she said. "I did pretty good." She read the letter aloud.

 _Dear student,_

 _The following are the results of your first year exams. Your ability in each of these classes will determine what classes you are able to take in your second year. Our grading scale is as follows:_

Daisy read out the grades, starting with O for Outstanding and ending with T for Troll. Poppy had giggled at that one, causing a contagious bubble of laughter to come out from Anna.

The letter continued. Daisy Dursley has received:

 _Beginning Astronomy - E_

 _Charms - O_

 _Defense Against the Dark Arts - A_

 _English - E_

 _Flying - O_

 _Herbology - O_

 _Math - A_

 _Potions - O_

 _Transfiguration - O_

 _Wizarding Culture and History - E*_

"See, I passed everything," Daisy beamed.

"Great job," Dudley said, giving Daisy a one armed hug. "I knew you'd do great."

Poppy smiled, but internally, she thought that she could have done better. She had never bragged about it - she liked being friends with her sister, not in constant argument like some of her friends were with their siblings - but Poppy had always gotten better marks in school than Daisy had at the same level. It was something Poppy was proud of, something that Poppy aimed to do well in. Somehow, being the best in school was incredibly important to her, even if it wasn't the most important thing to her family.

When Poppy got to Hogwarts she knew she _would_ be better. She'd bring home a list of all O's.

"And," Dudley added when he noticed Daisy looking at the two acceptables with a little disappointment, "Don't forget that you have a terrific new skill to add to your accomplishments."

"Professor Flitwick was quite impressed with you, Daisy, and you still passed everything. It's okay to have your strengths, and you'll get better at the rest."

That's right. Wandless magic. Daisy's special skill. A teacher from Hogwarts had stopped by the previous week to talk to her parents about it, and how rare and amazing it was that Daisy was able to use it.

Seeing as Poppy hadn't had accidental magic until she had a wand substitute, she doubted that he talent was one she shared. But if Daisy had unexpected gifts, why couldn't Poppy. What surprises was she in for?

* * *

*Somehow I didn't realize that I had Daisy taking 10 classes, but I suppose that's what happens when you add muggle subjects to the curriculum :)

I'm sure the teachers figured out a reasonable amount of work anyhow, so as not to overload students. I also just realized that if I keep my current schedule I'll be taking 9 classes next semester (I had 8 this semester), and I'm a little nervous, but I suppose if it comes down to the worst, I can just drop a class since two are optional.

 **Aaaand that's it! I can officially mark this story off as completed. Thank you everyone who stuck with me this whole entire journey! I'm really glad that people out there enjoyed this. Thanks for, at the moment, 99 reviews, 103 followers, 45 favorites, being added to 3 communities, and 37794 views!**

 **I might go back and edit some of my earlier chapters if I'm bored or something, but I'm not going to make any plot changes.**

 **In the mean time, happy, Christmas, Hanukah, or whatever you celebrate :)**

 **I almost forgot, this fic will also have it's title changed. I'll leave it Daisy Dursley: Flower Sparks, for now so that I don't confuse anyone, but once I get the next story up, it will become just 'Daisies' as the sequel will also be named for a flower.**


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